What may come to pass
by Gaia 479
Summary: This story was based on Season 4 spoiler references, up to and including the finale, and beyond, but that's all made-up! Final Chapter is now here. We've laughed, we've cried...someone was born...someone died. FoxownsBones, vive la Fox! Ciao4now!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Brennan walked into the FBI building with ease. Everyone there knows her. Everyone there knows she can't have a gun, so they don't bother asking anymore. Everyone knows her destination. The Office of Special Agent Seeley Booth. She barely acknowledges any of them, but that's okay, No one expected anything different. This was any other day.

As she approached the office of her partner, she heard the raised voices before she saw the men to whom they belonged. She approached Booth's office slowly, afraid to disrupt the heated argument going on within. She lingered on the threshold, trying to catch Booth's eye, but his head was down, he was looking at his desk. The man standing across from him continued to yell, his arms waving in great theatrical waves. Brennan could now hear the conversation clearly.

"I mean What the Hell Seeley... You got him fired...This is as much your problem as it is his. What are you gonna do?" The man stood upright and placed his hands on his hips, his posture, very intimidating. Bones still couldn't see his face. She did, on the other hand, finally get Booth's attention. His normal warm, brown eyes were cold and frustrated, until he made eye contact with her, and then they melted with recognition.

"Hey Bones, good timing." Booth raised one finger to answer temporarily, her quizzical look, meaning for her to wait. He looked back to the man. "I really got to go. I have a live case, and there's my partner, with crucial information for us to analyze. We'll talk later. I'll work everything out." Booth looked at Brennan with pleading in his eyes, begging her to go along with his story. For once, she caught his subtle hint, and backed away from the doorway to wait for him to join her.

She watched as Booth grabbed his suit Jacket, and nearly tripped over the corner of his desk in his haste to get out of whatever uncomfortable situation he had gotten himself into. She stifled a giggle at the look on his face. It was one of relief, to say the least. As he reached her side, he took hold of her arm and guided her towards the elevator. She paused for a second, looking over his shoulder back at his office, where the man had now moved to the doorway with a stunned look on his face. She looked into his eyes and saw a familiarity that took her a minute to recognize.

"Why did you lie to that man? We don't have an active case; I was meeting you for lunch." She slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "Oh my god, Booth, is that your Father?" Now she caught up with the recognition she sensed in the other man. She leaned back to try to get another glimpse at the man, but he had not followed the two down the hallway.

"Bones, I'll tell you all about it over lunch. Can we just go?" The elevator door had opened and he guided her into the car, with his hand on her lower back. She didn't say another word until they were in his SUV, heading towards the Diner.

Booth didn't say a word either. He kept his eyes on the road. She broke the silence first.

"So, your Father's in town I see." She looked at him to gage his reaction. He didn't take his eyes off the road, but replied, "Yep."

"Are you okay? I mean I know you've told me a little about him, but I've never heard of him visiting, or of you visiting him either, for that matter. You seem out of sorts. I get nervous when you're out of sorts." She continued looking at him, waiting for the dam to burst. It didn't.

They had reached the diner, so all conversation ceased until they were in their usual spot, coffee ordered, and lunch on the way. Booth sighed loudly, his face resting in one hand, his other hand fiddling with a spoon. Brennan reached across the table and grabbed his hand with hers to stop his fidgeting.

"Booth, tell me, what was that all about?" She kept her hand on his until the waitress arrived with their coffee, and then blushed slightly that she had been caught being affectionate. Her blush was not lost on him. He stifled a smile into the palm of his hand, and sighed again. He looked into her eyes across the table, not sure where to begin.

"Well, I guess, long-story-short, Jared called my old man, and tells him he lost his fabulous job with the FBI because of me, and now, Pops, is in my office screaming at me that I have to find him a new job and start taking responsibilities for my actions. Same old story with Jared, nothing is his fault!"

"Booth, we never would have found you on that Navy ship if Jared hadn't done what he had done. He saved your life." Brennan looked at him with her huge eyes, some of the fear of that day creeping into them again.

"All of you saved my life that day. Every one of you. The rest of you didn't lose your jobs though. The rest of you don't want anything in return from me." Lunch arrived and the rest of the conversation revolved around Brennan trying to convince Booth that he wasn't responsible for Jared anymore. By the time they were back in the vehicle, Booth had actually started to believe it. He was ready to tell both his brother and his father where to go.

As Brennan drove back to the Jeffersonian from the Hoover Building she contemplated Booth's situation with his family. He rarely spoke of them, so she had no clue how to approach a resolution. The situation encompassed her thoughts through the afternoon, and into the evening. She was still awake, though in her bed, when her cell phone rang from the bedside table. She answered with the usual, "Brennan."

"Uh, hey, Bones, are, uh, you awake?" It was Booth, but something was wrong. She knew it immediately.

"Booth, what's wrong?"

"Uh, can you come down to the hospital, I kind of need you right now, and I'm at Bethesda." His voice broke twice in that one sentence.

"I'm on my way Booth." She was already getting dressed and was out the door in less than 10 minutes.

She ran into the hospital, not knowing where to go, or where to look for him. She approached the reception desk in the emergency department, waiting for some acknowledgement from the nurse there, when she saw the elevator door open. Out walked a horrible looking Booth, red eyed and pale. She ran to him, grabbing his upper arms and shaking him slightly. "Booth, what is going on?"

He looked at her with his red, puffy eyes and suppressed a sob.

"Well, I had the talk with my dad and Jared, and explained to them that I wasn't going to get him out of trouble anymore, that I was done, and well Jared and I got into a huge fight, and he stormed out, and apparently went to a bar, proceeded to get smashingly drunk, and then drove his car into a lamp post and they pronounced him dead a little over an hour ago."

He lost it then, the sobs could no longer be held back. Without over-thinking the situation, and letting her heart take control, she took him in her arms for a hug. He accepted without thinking. His face buried in her hair, her hand gently rubbing his back. She was unable to come out with appropriate words so all she said was

"Oh Booth."


	2. The big fight

Chapter Two

She held him for what seemed like forever. He hadn't actually cried that long, but he made no effort to remove himself from her embrace. They stood in front of the reception desk, ignoring the stares of other patients and their families. Time passed. Neither of them knew actually how much, but eventually he stood up straight. His hands lingered just a little bit on her upper arms. She looked at his face, but he wouldn't make eye contact. He kept his eyes downcast. Maybe they were closed, she couldn't tell. Brennan took his hand and guided him to one of the chairs, which were in the waiting room. They both sat, she kept his hand in hers.

"So... still think I'm a tough guy?" A shadow of a smile crossed his lips, but never reached his eyes.

"Booth, you just found out your brother died. According to your version of the circumstances, I think you are holding together remarkably well..." She placed her other hand on top of his and held his hand between hers. "So, what do we do now?"

Booth's shoulders visibly slumped, and he sighed loudly and slowly. He squeezed her hand. "My old man is on his way. I just told him there was an accident, I haven't told him about Jared yet." His voice broke when he said his brother's name. "I thought it would be better if I told him in person. I'm glad you're here with me now Temperance. I don't know what I'm going to do."

She had never seen him so dejected. She was not used to the roll of the comforter. Always it was her with some crisis, her needing to be held. Her brain raced for something to say, something to do in this situation. She recalled something Angela had told her a long time ago. "Just let him know you're there."

"I'm here for you Booth. Whatever it might be that you need." Her eyes met his and held them for a long while. He smiled finally. It was no charm smile. It was a smile that did not mask the pain. The gaze was broken finally by a loud shout.

"Seeley! WHAT THE HELL is going on now?" The man who resembled Booth came storming through the doors. People flew out of his way. He approached the partners with his hands already raised in question. "What is it? Is it Jared?"

Booth stood up and tried to guide his father towards the empty chair beside them, but the older Booth was having none of it. He pushed Seeley's hand away, and took a step back.

"Dad. Seriously, I think you should sit down. I have some bad news. It is Jared."

"Just tell me!"

Booth glanced at Brennan. She was half-sitting half-standing, completely unsure of what to do or what to say. He gestured for her to stay seated, and looked back to his father. "Well, there, uh, was an accident. Jared was driving drunk, and he wrapped his car around a lamp post. Well, uh, dad, there was nothing they could do, his injuries were too severe. He died."

Brennan remembered all the times she had accompanied Booth when he had to inform a family of the loss of their loved one. He never flinched. Not once. He always had something sympathetic to say, and his eyes expressed his sympathy better than anything. Now, telling his own father about the death of his brother, Brennan swore his knees buckled. She was up beside him, before he had the chance to reveal his weakness to anyone. She wrapped her arm around his waist, and squeezed his side with reassurance.

Booth's father just stood there. He was in shock. He hadn't blinked or flinched, or moved since Seeley told him the news. His face paled considerably. He looked at his surviving son with contempt.

"What did you say to him after I left earlier? You must have said something to him to set him off. He wouldn't have done this, if you hadn't baited him!" The elder Booth was livid. His eyes flashed with anger, spit flew from his mouth. "This is your fault Seeley. You." He poked his finger into Seeley's chest. The younger man flinched considerably.

"This is hardly Booth's fault! Accidents are in-themselves defined as chance events commonly involving a catastrophe. Key words are*chance events*." Brennan finally found her voice before this intimidating man.

He hadn't even noticed her presence before her outburst. Now his angry glare was directed towards her, and she shrank back so she was a little bit behind Booth. Her partner had never seen her intimidated by anyone before, this man who had raised him though, he had powers.

"Who the HELL are you anyway," Older Booth now pointed his finger at Brennan. "Seeley's flavour of the week?"

"I don't know what that means, but I'm Brennan." Booth actually stifled a giggle. He suddenly feared a little bit, what the outcome of this brewing show-down would bring. He glanced around for breakables. There were none. Other patients had backed right out of the room, letting the scene play itself out.

"If you're a doctor, then why the Hell weren't you in there, saving my son?" The finger pointing continued. He was getting awfully close to making contact with Brennan's clavicle region.

"I'm not that kind of doctor." With the word doctor spoken, Booth's father made contact with his partner, and Seeley lost it. He jumped between Brennan and his father, but not before Brennan had grabbed the offensive digit, and twisted it back to his fore-arm. Booth pushed Brennan back with his left hand and smoked his father in the face with his right. The blow didn't even distract the older man, but he noticed it. He turned on his son, with familiar ease, and landed shot after shot on Seeley. It only took as long as Brennan could bull her arm back and swing, before she launched her purse at the senior Booth. She caught him square in the nose, and he flew backwards, unconscious before he hit the floor.

Hospital security decided that was a good time to show up, and a few police cars were pulling up outside the glass doors, lights flashing. Booth pulled his badge out of his pocket, flashed it towards the approaching cops.

"Everything's okay here fellas, I was just leaving, and my Old man there, he might need to be treated for a broken nose. Call me if you have any questions. The doctors will explain everything to you..." Brennan had grabbed him by the arm and was pulling him towards the door. She needed to get him out of there.

When they had reached the fresh air, they stopped and looked at each other, the police lights brightening their faces.

"You didn't have to protect me in there. I was handling it."

"Bones, what the hell, YOU were protecting me. How does that make me feel? Huh?" Seeley had his partner by the shoulders. He was looking into her eyes. "And trust me, I've been on the receiving end of my dad's blows more than often enough to know that if he had hit you, I would've killed him. Right there."

"Seeley, I'm so sorry." Brennan reached for his hand on her shoulder. He caught her hand halfway to his. He brought it to his lips. His mouth barely grazed her fingers and both felt it warm up a little in the world.

"Thank you Temperance. I mean that. Now, I'd really like to go away right now. I can come back in the morning and deal with the formalities. You drive." They walked silently in the darkness towards her car. She unlocked it from a distance away with her remote, and they both climbed in their respective sides. Brennan didn't immediately start the car, and she turned in her seat to look at Booth. He finally met her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She really wanted to know.

He looked quickly out the front window and then back at her.

"Nope."

"Where should we go?"

"I don't really care Bones. You're in charge tonight."

Temperance turned back in her seat, and started the car. She drove aimlessly for awhile, and then decided on a course of action that had worked before. They pulled up beside a familiar sight.

"Wong Foo's! We haven't been there in forever!" Seeley started to get out of the car, when Bones grabbed his arm and held him back.

"No, I'll go in and get it to go; you go over to that all-night liquor store over there and pick us up something that's sure to give us a head-ache tomorrow."

"Good thinking Bones!"

"It's what I do." She muttered the last statement, but his accurate hearing picked it up. He smiled a little as he crossed the road.

Errands finished, they headed for her place. After all else had been taken care of, they sat on her couch, eating their food, she drinking wine, he drinking scotch. Silence filled the room. It wasn't uncomfortable though.

"You know Seeley; it's not your fault." The silence continued for awhile longer. They had both finished eating.

"I don't know Bones; I said some pretty harsh stuff to Jared tonight. I can't take it back now can I?"

"Would you have taken it back if Jared hadn't died tonight?"

"No, probably not." His eye was swelling. She hadn't noticed until now. He had marks showing up all over his face.

"Then don't worry about it. Just for tonight. Whatever you want."

He groaned and leaned over his lap, putting his hands over his face. He knew what he wanted. She leaned forward and tried to pry his hands off his face. She wanted to look him in the eye when she said her next words.

"Seeley. I want to make you feel better tonight. However I can. I want to love you, like you love me."

"Bones I, uh ...what?" He was tongue tied. He thought he was so stealth and secretive with his feelings. She had known all along. Tears welled up in his eyes. Some over-flowed.

She reached over to wipe the tears away; he captured her hand and held it to his face. He kissed her palm.

"Bones, I want you to love me. For real. Not just tonight. Not just because of what happened tonight."

"I do Seeley, Or, what I think I feel is love. But, what I'm saying, is tonight is yours. You said it, I'm in charge tonight.

He looked into her eyes, and saw only sincerity. He knew Bones didn't know how to lie, or really, to be funny either. She was telling the truth. She had to be. He dared to lean closer to her. His hand found her waist, his other hand hooked around her back as he pulled her closer to him, and leaned back against the couch. Both of them were afraid to make the first move. The move had to be mad though. Booth sighed,

"Oh Temperance."


	3. the big night

Chapter Three

They sat entwined on the couch their foreheads touching, his hands still around her waist, her hands unsure of what to do next. They trembled. He noticed.

"Bones, if you're not sure about this, let me know now, before it's too late." His eyes were closed, but he felt her eyelashes against his cheek, fluttering nervously.

"It's not that I'm not sure, it's just that, well, I never really pictured our first time being so, well, real." He could taste her breathe when she spoke. It was delicious.

He pulled his head back to look at her. There was a smile in his eyes for the first time that evening.

"You pictured our first time?" He laughed a little at the embarrassed expression on her face. She could be so unexpectedly cute sometimes. He held her tighter and they could get no closer. Not without occupying the same space.

"Of course I pictured our first time. Didn't you? The natural course of our relationship was leading here. I just hadn't actually envisioned it here tonight, under these circumstances."

"Yeah, me neither," Booth sighed. "I sort of pictured it after a huge fight, very passionate at first, then slowing right down, and lasting for a week." She smiled.

They were silent for some time. Neither one was in a hurry. Fruition had finally come, and the two of them sat on the couch. Their feelings exposed, but nothing else. It felt right.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Temperance?" His voice sounded very weak and tired.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Her fingers had finally occupied themselves by tracing the line of stubble on his jaw. The last sweep of her fingers traced his lips. She felt them smile.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I'm not okay, but for this moment, this place right now, I feel good. I like this. I just want to live tonight. I'll worry about tomorrow then." He laid his head on her shoulder, his face pressed against her neck. He felt her pulse on his lips. It had quickened then slowed down. Without realizing his exhaustion, her pulse lulled him to sleep.

She sensed when he had fallen asleep, but she made no effort to move, afraid to disturb him. She looked at the window and saw dawn creeping over the sill. It had been a very, very long night. Eventually she dozed, the two of them so comfortable, neither stirred until her phone rang.

Booth shot up off the couch, scared by the disturbance. Brennan sat up groggy and disoriented. He found her phone on the coffee table and passed it to her. She answered classically, "Brennan."

He watched her face while the person on the other end, he could tell it was a woman, spewed something without pausing for breath, or a break between words. She looked at him and mouthed "Its Angela."

"Yes, I know. Yes, I have seen him. He's right here. Yes he spent the night. No, we didn't. NO, we didn't. No, I don't think I'll be into work today. He needs me. I will tell him that. Thanks Ange, I'll call you later."

Booth paced the living room while she had the conversation with Angela. He was nervous. He didn't know why. He thought he would be nervous after they had made love, but they hadn't and he was nervous anyway. Damn. He was in deep.

She hung up the phone and watched him pace for a while. She stood up and stepped in front of him so that he would have to stop. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him.

"That was Angela calling to tell you she was very sorry for about your brother. The FBI called the Jeffersonian and let them know the situation. Everyone there feels very badly for you."

"Well...that didn't take long did it?" He quickly changed the subject. "Bones...I am sooo sorry." He looked into her blue, blue eyes and saw the affection she had for him, affection that she had kept hidden better than he had. "I never meant to fall asleep on you."

"It's okay Seeley, there's always tonight, and if not then, there's tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere. I hope you know that. I'm here for you. In every way." It was so honest and true, that he felt tears forming in his eyes. He was unashamed as they fell down his face and landed on hers. She stood up straight and grabbed the collar of his shirt. They met each other half way as they finally shared their first true kiss. There was no puckish D.A. observing them, no one was going to walk in. It was just them, and the passion that lay hidden for too long was unleashed. They were finally interrupted by his cell phone ringing.

While he answered his phone, Temperance took the opportunity to go to the kitchen and make some coffee for them. It was going to be another long day, the first of many. When the coffee was brewed she walked back to the living room with a large cup for him. He was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. He didn't look up when she approached so she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Are you okay?" She, again, really wanted to know.

"I just have this crazy head-ache right now. I might need something for it. The hospital just called, and because I'm the next of kin listed, not my dad, they can't release Jared's body until I sign some papers. My dad is flipping out on the nurses, and I really need to go back to the hospital now. Oh man, I don't want to face him. He's just going to convince me this was all my fault. As if I wouldn't be hard enough on myself, he's got to be there."

Brennan sat down beside him on the couch and took the hand that didn't have the coffee cup in it.

"Booth, this was not your fault, and frankly, I don't want to see you take some pity trip because you feel responsible. Jared was a grown man, and made his own decision to get behind the wheel of his car. This is not your doing. I don't want you to suffer any more than you already will over this. Will you promise me?"

He looked in her eyes for minutes. Not saying anything. He searched for some sign that she was not serious, but she was. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the mouth. Now, that felt good.

"I promise Temperance. I promise whatever you want."

"Good, now I'm going to have quick shower, and then I'll drive you to the hospital. We'll deal with this together, Okay?"

"I should make some phone calls." He grabbed her hand and kissed it as she tried to get up, passing between him and the coffee table. "I promise I'll make it up to you about last night. It'll be worth the wait." He winked at her as she left the living room.

She looked back at him and said, "I'll look forward to it." She tried to wink back, but it was very awkward. He snickered as she went down the hallway, picking up his phone.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

They had driven to Booth's apartment to let him shower and get a change of clothes. While he was attending to his hygienic needs, his phone rang. Brennan answered it without thinking, "Agent Seeley Booth's phone, Dr. Temperance Brennan speaking."

"Who's this?" A masculine voice was on the other end.

"My name is Temperance Brennan; I'm Agent Booth's partner. "If I may ask, who is this??"

"Uh, I'm Seeley's grandfather. He left a message on my phone earlier, said he had some bad news for me."

Brennan was unsure if she should be the one to tell him that his grandson had passed away, but she knew he had to know.

"Well," she began, "I'm afraid your grandson, Jared, was killed in a vehicular accident last night. His injuries were too severe and there was nothing anyone could do. I'm very sorry."

There was silence on the other end, and Temperance wondered eventually if he was still there.

"Was he drinking?" The voice finally spoke through the phone. Brennan was a little shocked by this question.

"There's evidence that says he was, yes."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"No, I believe that it was a single vehicle accident."

"Well, thank God for that. Say, I really need to go right now, this is um, a little bit much to digest, and can you have Seeley call me when he can?" The click on the line was audible as the caller hung up. Brennan sighed. There was so much about her partner that she did not know. So much he kept hidden, or tried to anyway. She sat on his couch and waited for him to be ready. She didn't wait long.

He was showered and changed and ready to go. She grabbed the keys and headed for the door, which he was holding open for her. He gestured that she should go first, but she stopped in front of him and kissed him gently and slowly on the lips. He smiled, but there was a brief grimace of pain on his face.

"Does your head still hurt?" Temperance asked him, with concern in her eyes. Her fingers grazed his hairline, and briefly stopped on the bruise that had formed near his eye.

"Yeah, a little. Seems the old man still has some power in those fists of his. Don't tell him I said that though..." He kissed her quickly on the forehead, and led her down the hall.

"I won't. By the way, your Grandfather called when you were in the shower. Booth, I didn't even know you had a grandfather. What else don't I know about you?" They were headed towards her car, and she stopped walking, waiting for his answer. He paused also and looked her in the eye. His warm chocolate eyes reflected apology.

"There's so much time Bones. I'll tell you everything about me if you want to know it all."

"Okay, start with your grandfather..."

The time during the ride to the hospital was passed by Booth telling stories about his grandfather. How as a child, when his father was having a particularly nasty bout with the bottle, his Grandfather would take him and Jared fishing, or anywhere out of the range of fire. He told her that he truly felt his grandfather was the reason he was alive today, and was the reason he was the man he was. Brennan's respect for the Eldest Booth was great and she had yet to meet the man.

The hospital was quite a bit busier in the daytime than it had been in the night. They wandered around aimlessly for a while, not sure who to talk to about Jared. They finally found a relatively helpful nurse, who had paged the doctor in charge of Jared's file. They waited, their backs to the hallway, standing close, wanting to touch but unsure of how far to push this thing when it was still so new. They never heard the man approach, and the last thing Seeley saw was his father's old Air Force ring, flashing in his peripheral vision. Brennan watched in horror as Booth hit the floor.

He didn't get up.


	4. The better night

Chapter Four

Booth's father just stood there shaking his hand; obviously it had stung to take the shot. His other hand was in a cast, and his nose was bandaged, two black eyes looked at Brennan, smirking. Brennan looked at him, absolutely speechless. Her instincts failed her, and she had no reaction as to what to do. She smelled the booze on him almost instantly.

"Kid's still got a glass jaw," he looked down at the unconscious man on the floor, nudging him with his foot, "Get up Seeley, we're even now."

Brennan recovered from her shock and pushed the older man away from her partner. She knelt down beside him and put her hand on his forehead. Booth stirred a bit, but didn't wake up. She looked up to see two doctors and at least three police officers rushing down the hallway. The cops immediately took senior Booth away, they had been having trouble with this guy all morning, and now they had the excuse to take him downtown. Sure, his son had been killed, but it was no excuse to be assaulting random people, verbally, and now physically. They would be sympathetic, but he obviously needed to be detained for everyone's safety.

Temperance moved away from Booth to let the doctors do their job. She stood up and brushed off her hands. The floor was not as clean as it seemed. One of the doctors asked her what had happened.

"That man," she pointed down the hallway to where the cops were leading the grief-stricken man away, "Punched my partner, Agent Booth. He didn't even see it coming. He never had a chance to defend himself."

"Why would he blind-side him like that?" The doctor enquired, not really understanding what had happened. He was flashing a light in Booth's eyes, and prodding various spots on his skull.

"That's his father. I don't really understand their relationship." Brennan shook her head and looked down at Booth again. His eyes were finally open, but there was not a lot of focus in them. The other doctor had gone down the hall a bit, and was on his way back with a gurney.

They loaded a very stunned Booth onto the bed and wheeled him down to the emergency room. He was set up in a curtain surrounded space, and the doctor did another quick examination of him. "Agent Booth, do you know where you are?" Booth mumbled something.

"You said he was your partner?" The doctor was looking at her now.

"Well, we're more than partners I guess. I think." She didn't sound very confident.

"Okay. Well, I think your 'partner' here is going to be fine. We've just got to observe him for a little while. Don't go anywhere." With that, the doctor left behind the curtain, and Temperance was alone with Seeley.

"I heard that Bones." A voice came at her from below and she was startled out of her musings. "Are we really more than partners now?" His eyes stayed closed, but a grin that revealed his dimples shone through.

"Well, I suppose technically we haven't consummated the relationship yet, but we're as close as we've ever been."

He laughed and reached his arm up towards her, "That's my girl!" She actually laughed.

She took a hold of his hand, and brushed his hair back from his forehead.

"How's your head now?"

"My headache does not seem to be improving as the day goes on." He tried to sit up, but groaned loudly and lay back down. "Where's my dad?"

"The police took him somewhere, I'm not sure exactly where though. I didn't ask. Would you like me to find out?"

"No, Bones just stay here with me for a little bit. I just need a minute until I am only seeing two of you." He tried to laugh but it morphed into a groan. His other hand, the one that was not being held by her, went up to his jaw and poked tentatively. "I really thought that man had gotten over his need to punish me."

Brennan didn't know what to say. She was unsure how to approach the conversation. She stayed quiet.

"Don't worry, someday, I'll tell you all about my relationship with my father. It's not a happy story though, and frankly, I don't really want to get into it right now."

"It's okay Booth. When you're ready, I'm here."

"Thanks Temperance. For everything. I truly mean that. If you weren't spinning around so fast, I would kiss you right now." She helped him out by leaning over him and pressing her lips against his. The kiss became quite a bit more passionate than she had originally intended. Behind the curtain that separated them from the rest of the patients, her inhibitions were void. He seemed okay with that.

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By late afternoon Booth was up and about and annoying the nurses badly enough that they were ready to discharge him. He only flashed a couple of nurses the charm smile, and he had everything he needed. Brennan was amazed at how he manipulated the people around him to get whatever he wanted. She was truly starting to appreciate his gift. She had been a victim of that manipulation once or twice, which she knew of anyway.

The doctor who had treated Jared came down at one point and had Booth sign the papers, releasing his brother to the funeral home. No autopsy was performed, the fact Jared had gone through the windshield, into the lamp post was a pretty obvious cause of death. Booth tried to remain detached while the papers were being signed and witnessed, but Brennan could see through his facade that he was on the brink. She wasn't sure how much more he could handle. She offered him no verbal comfort, only the comfort of her presence, and the occasional light touch. When the doctor was done, and Seeley had shaken his hand, Brennan felt her stomach drop when she saw the look on her partners face. It was a combination of a lost little boy and a man trying not to cry. She sat beside him on the hospital bed, and laid her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulders, and just held her close.

"Are you ready to go home there Bones?" He asked eventually.

"Will you come over to my place?" She turned her head to look at his face, he looked terrible. He was so pale, and the bruises and scrapes from the day before had all made their presence known.

"I would like that very much Temperance. After all this crying today, I really need to prove that my alpha male tendencies are still intact." He rubbed her thigh, close to her knee. A small smile crept across her lips and he had a crazy desire to kiss it out of her. He realized that he could now, his desires no longer needed to be checked. He took her face in his hand and turned her head slightly more towards himself. Booth looked her in the eye, making sure he had made contact before he moved in for the kiss.

"Thank you." Booth whispered in her ear when their lips parted.

Brennan knew that she was in deep with this man. She couldn't support him through this, the most difficult crisis he had faced for a long time and walk away afterwards. She was in deep for sure, and so far, she felt okay with that. She really wished it was under better circumstances, she would miss Jared, but his death opened up a vulnerability in Booth that she may never have been able to crack. He needed her now. He had said so. She was there.

They were back on the road by early evening, heading back to her apartment. Booth was very quiet, and Brennan struggled to think of something to say. Something that would ease his mind and take his thoughts off the events of the last forty-eight hours. His brother was dead, his father was blaming him, they had almost made love to each other and then his father knocked him unconscious in a very public place. No wonder his head was bobbing on his chest by the time she pulled into her parking garage.

She put her hand on his leg, and he instantly snapped awake. Years as a Ranger had fine tuned his reflexes to razor sharp precision, and now, her touch sparked something more in him. He shuddered, in a good way, and looked at her with tired eyes.

"We're here." Brennan said.

"Oh, good." It was all he said.

As they walked up the steps to her apartment, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly. It felt so comfortable, the gentle affection they were showing each other. It was baby steps to the solid relationship he dreamed they would build together. They were so close. So close he could feel it happening, but he wasn't going to rush her. He would follow her pace until she was where she needed to be. Once she realized that he was there for her, no matter what, all would be well with him again.

When they entered her apartment, the couch where they had come so close made him smile. He took off his jacket and threw it on the arm chair, and settled himself on her very, very comfortable couch. She had gone to her bedroom; he didn't ask her for the reason. She didn't need his permission to do anything, and they both knew it. His phone rang at the exact same moment hers did. He answered his, and she came flying down the hallway to answer hers.

"Booth." His classic answer.

"Brennan." Her classic answer. He heard her voice fading as she went back down the hallway to give them both privacy to take their calls.

"Oh yeah... hey Gramps." He had totally forgotten to return the phone call of his grandfather. The events of the day, had taken precedence over everything, and he explained the story to his grandfather. Everything that had happened and everyone who was involved. The Older Booth seemed particularly interested in the woman who had answered his phone that morning. He said she sounded nice. Booth agreed. 'Gramps' told Seeley that he could be in D.C. in two days to help with any arrangements, and he would personally solve the issue with Booth's father once and for all. When he ended the call, he was surprised to find tears falling from his eyes, unchecked. Brennan came back into the living room just at that moment and he tried to get control of himself before she noticed. Too late.

"Seeley..." She didn't have words, so instead she sat beside him on the couch and put her hand on his knee. Words came finally, "It's going to be okay."

"I know Bones; it just sucks royally right now. Everything is all messed up."

"Not everything, I think we're finally okay. If nothing else, this situation has brought us out of hiding, with respect to our feelings for each other anyway." A rare occurrence, she had said exactly the right thing.

He took her hand and pressed it to his chest, against his heart, and leaned back on the couch, forcing her to follow. She was turned sideways and looking at him. He was facing straight ahead, but eventually he turned to look at her. She was beautiful in the evening light; her eyes were the shade of blue that he loved the most. Those eyes that bore straight into his soul.

"What do you want to do tonight Bones?"

"You."

For the second time in a short while, she said exactly the right thing.


	5. A good day?

Chapter Five

The night passed quickly for the two lovers. His love making was everything she had ever dreamed of, and her passion and lack of inhibitions did not surprise him, but kept him on his toes. Not literally. The tragedy of recent was forgotten briefly by both, as they explored their newfound passion for each other with unfounded delight. The late morning found them still asleep, in her bed, arms and legs entwined. Lips raw from the administrations, and restfulness in their sleep that had eluded them the night before. He was the first to wake.

He looked down at the top of the head that was resting on his arm, her face buried in his chest. The sheet that covered them had fallen off of her and he could see her naked back, and the long curving body that continued down to her feet. She was beautiful. He couldn't resist running his fingers across her shoulder and down to her thigh. On the way back up, he heard her giggle. Then she sneezed.

He jumped back a little, "Oh my God Bones, that's sick." He brushed overdramatically at his now slightly wet chest.

"C'mon Booth, it's a natural bodily function. It's not like it was the only fluids of mine you've come in contact with very recently." She rubbed her nose.

"No need to go there Temperance." He seemed a little disconcerted, and then his face muscles relaxed into a semi-smile. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "God bless you." He whispered to her.

"Why would he, if he exists?"

"It's just a saying Temperance. You say it to someone after they sneeze." He rolled onto his back and sighed.

"Why?" She laid her chin on his chest and looked at him with a truly questioning look. He was ending this conversation, and right quickly. He grabbed her under both of her arms and pulled her on top of him and closed her questioning eyes with a very deep kiss. She soon forgot why she had asked anything. His morning love-making was as exquisite as his night time efforts.

After an inconceivable amount of time had passed they both agreed that if they didn't leave the bed right then, then they never would. Temperance got out of the bed and walked naked to the bathroom, giving Booth a show he definitely appreciated.

"Who's got a lack of puritan modesty now, there, Bones?" She laughed from the bathroom. He got out of bed and pulled on his pants. The shirt could wait. He'd give her a show too. He went to the kitchen and was not surprised by the lack of any food in her apartment. He wandered into the living room; his bare feet felt right walking across her floor. The remains of their dinner from Wong Foo's the other night, as well as the practically untouched bottles of alcohol, was still on her coffee table. He gathered them up and took them to her kitchen.

He heard her shower running, and briefly considered joining her. This new thirst of his did not seem to be quenched yet. He decided that was not a good idea if they were going to accomplish anything at all today. After the living room was clear of clutter, he found himself sitting on the couch again and staring into space. The lightness of last night and this morning seemed to dissipate as his mind wandered back to the past few days. He sighed to himself. His head hurt again.

"Ah, Jared. You crazy little son of a bitch." He said it to himself. His memories followed the train of thought back through his youth, and his adolescence, his adulthood. Jared was there in some aspect through-out. Now, his life was taking this fantastic turn, he wanted Jared to be there. It was as though, Jared's death was the end of his old life, and his new relationship with Temperance was the beginning of the new. What a bridge he crossed to get there. Where did he go from here?

"Booth?" Her voice flowed down the hallway and broke his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You can use the shower now if you want, then we should get something to eat."

He passed her in the hallway; she was drying her hair with a towel. She was wrapped in a bath towel. As he walked past, he tweaked the top of it and it fell to the floor. Before she had time to react, he grabbed her and held her close to him, bare skin to bare skin, and kissed her like he had never kissed another woman. Not even Rebecca. His hands ran down her bare back.

"Booth?" She broke away from the kiss, though it broke her heart to do it, "We will never get anything accomplished if you keep this up." He could have sworn she put a little emphasis on the word 'up', but she had a straight face when he looked back at her. He smiled at her and continued through her room to the still steamy bathroom. The cold shower he was about to take would take care of any residual steam.

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It was afternoon before they managed to get to the Diner for a bit of lunch. Booth was still very pale, and very quiet. It seemed to her that he kept his eyes closed a lot, but maybe she was just imagining it. She was explaining to him that she had to go to the Jeffersonian tomorrow, but today she was free to do anything he wanted.

"Where did I leave my car?" He asked her, cutting her off mid sentence. She looked at him with surprise; it wasn't like him to forget such things. His memory was usually razor sharp. She pegged it up to the stress of the last few days.

"You called me from the hospital, so I would deduce that it is still there. We can go get it after we're finished here."

He had barely touched his food, and was nursing his cup of coffee. He hadn't even ordered pie. Again, she chalked it up to the stress. Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see Angela and Hodgins coming in the doors. Angela spotted them and came over.

She tried to give Booth a hug, but it was awkward because he was sitting against the window.

"I'm so sorry about your brother sweetie. He was a good man." Angela's voice reflected the heartfeltness of her words.

"Thanks Angela. He had his moments, that's for sure."

Hodgins also tried to give Booth a hug, but Booth stopped him before it got very far.

"Sorry man, I only hug pretty ladies." He looked over at Brennan who had a warm smile on her face. Their eyes connected, and they sparkled at each other. The connection was not lost on Angela. She looked at them knowingly. She would not out them in public, but she made a mental note to try and trap Brennan at some point in the near future. There was gossip there somewhere. Hodgins was oblivious. She raised one eyebrow at Booth and said,

"You kind of look like hell. Isn't our girl there taking very good care of you?" She shrugged her head towards Brennan. The partners' eyes sparkled at each other again.

Booth looked back at Angela, "Yeah, she's taking good care of me. I couldn't ask for a better care-giver." His eyes would not stop sparkling. Angela was convinced something was going on there, but she needed proof. Proof in Brennan's admittance of the fact would do nicely. Tomorrow she would find out.

"Well, Bones, don't you think we should get going?" Seeley had grabbed his coat, and was around the table and pulling out Brennan's chair before anyone else could say a word.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ange." Brennan avoided eye contact with her best friend as she turned to leave.

"Sorry about your brother man, that really sucks." Hodgins looked he was going to try to hug Booth again, and the taller man made haste to leave, taking his partner by the elbow and waving good bye to the squints.

"He seemed alright don't you think?" Hodgins asked Angela as they settled into the recently vacated table.

"Yeah, he definately seemed alright." She took one more quick glance at the partners crossing the street, and focused on her lunch date.

Brennan and Booth were driving towards the hospital, when Brennan noticed that Booth was swatting at something near his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, slightly concerned.

"There's a fly buzzing around my face."

She hadn't noticed any flying insect in the car, but who knew. It had probably flown away before she noticed. His actions stopped and she didn't think of it again.

After he picked up his car, she followed him back to his place, and they sat on his couch holding each other. Every once in a while one of them would kiss the other. Mostly just to prove they could. There was no tension, as he feared there might be. She was as much herself in this new situation as she had been before. He loved her even more for her adaptability.

"What are you thinking about Seeley?"

"I was just thinking about tomorrow. I thought it would be good if I could spend the day with Parker, if Rebecca will let me, and then the two of us can go pick up my Grandfather at the airport. Parker loves the planes, looks like he got the 'Air Force gene'." Booth smiled when he thought of his son.

Brennan didn't really know what 'Air force gene' meant, but she let it go. He had such a nice look on his face that she didn't want to pick an argument with him about his genetic knowledge.

"I think I should go home tonight, to let you have a good night's sleep so you can have a good day tomorrow. Parker can be tiring, and you have been through a lot in the last few days." Brennan's fingers were stroking his muscular forearm.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You don't have to go right away though do you?" Booth reached up and stroked her face, his eyes were melting her.

"No I have time. Is there something you have to do?" She was setting him up for the line.

"No," he had started fiddling with the buttons on her blouse, "There's someone!"

She threw her head back to laugh, and he took the opportunity to kiss her neck soundly. A phone rang, and they ignored it. It turned out his evening love-making was also quite stimulating.

He had fallen asleep, and she carefully removed herself from his embrace. She wrote him a note because she didn't want him to think she had run away in the night, saying she would talk to him tomorrow and that she couldn't wait to meet his grandfather. As she reached out to put it on his pillow, he stirred slightly in his sleep and muttered "I Love you Bones, always have."

She realized he was still completely asleep, and she was slightly amazed that even his sub-conscious loved her.

"Wow," she said quietly to herself as she let herself out of the apartment.

"Wow."


	6. 3 Booths and a dinner

Chapter Six

The night passed slowly for Temperance. Her mind raced with memories of last night, and of that morning and of that evening. She remembered everywhere his hands had touched, and they had touched everywhere. Her sheets still smelled of his cologne, and the pillow still had the indentation of his head. She laid her head on his pillow and tried to sleep. It evaded her. Early in the morning, she finally fell into a shallow sleep, but was disturbed by her phone ringing. She reached blindly in the dark for the phone and answered, "Brennan."

Agent Perotta had been assigned all of Booth's cases while he was on extended leave, and she was wondering what time Brennan would be at the Jeffersonian so she could stop by with some questions. They also had a new body that had been found last night, and it was being delivered to the Lab as they spoke. Brennan informed Perotta that she would be in early and to stop by at any time. She hung up the phone, and turned on the light beside her bed. There would be no more sleep for her this morning. She looked at the clock, it was seven a.m. Later than she thought.

She prepared to head for the Jeffersonian and briefly wondered what Booth was doing right then. Likely, still sleeping. She was hooked. Badly it seemed. She wondered how she would compartmentalize this situation, especially while she was at work. Everything had to seem normal, but her thoughts constantly streamed back to Booth, and his skills in the bedroom. "Damn," she thought as she left her apartment, juggling her keys, her bag and her emotions.

She was well on her way to work when her cell phone rang in her pocket.

"Brennan here." She answered without checking the call display.

"Hey Bones, good morning!" Her heart skipped a little at the sound of his voice. She did not recall that ever happening before.

"Hello Seeley. Are you okay, is everything okay?"

"Everything is perfect. Well, as far as you and I are concerned anyway. I'm not so sure about the rest of my life though." He chuckled into the phone. The laugh sounded a little forced. "I just wanted to call and ask you something."

"Anything."

"Well," he paused briefly, "This thing we're doing, you and me, how do we want to handle this? Do we want everyone to know, or is it a secret? I mean, we never really discussed what we were going to do, or what we were going to say to people." His voice sounded very tired, but optimistic.

"What do you think Booth?" She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. The last few days had been a 'live for the moment' kind of scenario.

"I think we should keep it between us for now, I mean, it's our relationship right? I want a chance to enjoy it for a while before we're constantly under the microscope of the squints, and the FBI." She was relieved to hear him say that.

"I concur. I would like to enjoy it as well before everyone knows. I really think that Sweets should never find out. He'll never let us live it down that he was right, and we were in denial." Seeley laughed at her comment. Definitely not forced that time.

"No kidding. So we agree this is between you and me."

"You and I, Booth," she corrected him without thinking.

"Whatever Bones... say, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Aren't you spending the evening with your son and your grandfather?"

"Well, yeah, but you said you wanted to meet him, and he wants to meet you, and you got to eat right?" She could almost see his cocky smile through the phone. She smiled in spite of herself, he was asking her to meet his family.

"I would love to. What time?"

"Seven o'clock. And Temperance...?" She grunted a response as she was pulling into the underground parking lot of the Jeffersonian.

"Just to warn you, Perotta has my cases, so be prepared to deal with her at some point today."

"I know Booth; she already called to set up an appointment with me this morning."

"Okay, just be nice to her okay Bones. Those are still our cases."

"Okay, but I won't be as nice to her as I am to you." She was now walking through the parking lot, slightly distracted by talking to him. She didn't notice Angela come up beside her.

"I am very glad to hear that. I could get jealous, or a little turned on!" He laughed. She rolled her eyes. He knew even from across town that she had rolled her eyes. "See you tonight Temperance."

"See you tonight Booth." She tucked her phone back into her jacket pocket and squealed loudly when she finally noticed Angela walking beside her.

"So, you're going to see him again tonight are you?" Angela looked at her best friend with a smug grin, "Anything that you might wish to share with your best friend in the whole world?"

"I don't know what you mean." Temperance looked her friend in the eye and hoped more than anything that she wasn't blushing.

"Fine, don't tell me... but I'll find out eventually. I saw you and your FBI agent making serious eyes at each other in the diner yesterday." Angela continued to grin as they walked through the door of the Medico-Legal lab. Brennan just walked towards her office, hoping that Angela would let it go. She wasn't sure if lying to her best friend was an ethical way to approach the situation, but for now, she hoped the ends justified the means.

Perotta was waiting in her office. After they discussed the death of Booth's brother for awhile, they spent the better part of the morning comparing notes on active cases, and discussing the evidence that had been found in the new case. The body found yesterday. Brennan could see Cam, Hodgins and someone who looked to be Wendell, leaning over the remains on the platform. She let Perotta know that she should probably go check in with the team and get an update.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon flew by, and it was Five o'clock before she realized that she should get going if she was going to get to Booth's place by the agreed upon time. She left all of her work behind her, and headed home to change her clothes and shower, so that she didn't smell like decomp and chemicals when she met Booth's Grandfather.

The next hour was spent thinking of this man, whom she felt such great respect for, and she only knew of him from what Booth had told her. She sensed Booth's respect for him, and picked up instinctually on that. Before she knew it, she was walking up her partner's steps, and knocking on his door. She heard the child's laughter and the footsteps approaching the door.

The door swung open and there stood an almost identical version of Booth, but with a few years added, and a little more around the middle. His hair was silvered, and he had the same dark brown, expressive eyes, though they had quite a few more wrinkles around them. He held Parker, who was wearing an oversized football helmet, under his arm, like a football.

Parker lifted the mask up so he could see better, flashed her a charming smile, and said,

"Hi Bones!" He was definitely his father's son. In all the good ways.

"Hi Parker. How are you?" Brennan made her way into the foyer, as the eldest Booth set the youngest Booth down on his feet.

"I'm good. Me and my dad are cooking dinner for you. I should get back and help. We're in the kitchen." Parker ran off towards the kitchen, as Booth came around the corner with a dishtowel on his shoulder. He held back, waiting to see how his partner would make her first impression on the man he respected most in this world.

They stood looking at each other, sizing each other up. Their eyes never lost contact, but their peripheral vision was straining to take it all in. Her body was slightly fooled by the older man's resemblance to her Booth, and she knew she had been hooked by another Booth man. She smiled at him. He smiled back, oozing charm and confidence. He looked over his shoulder at his grandson, who was currently trying to hide his smile behind his hand but his eyes gave him away, and said,

"Seeley, my boy, you were right, she is beautiful!" He turned back to Brennan who had blushed slightly.

"I am very pleased to meet you Mr. Booth, I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan." She reached out her hand to shake his, but he didn't reciprocate.

"I know who you are. I don't shake hands though." He took her outstretched hand and pulled her into a huge bear hug. When the hug had gone on for what Brennan felt was in an inappropriately long time, Seeley intervened by reaching between them and pushing them gently apart. He kept one hand on Brennan's shoulder, and pushed the older man gently toward the interior of his apartment.

"Easy there, old man, I happen to have it on very good authority that she is spoken for." Booth's eyes smiled and lit the entrance. His grandfather winked over his shoulder as he followed Parker into the kitchen.

"About time," he muttered the statement, but both of them heard it just fine. They smiled at each other.

"Hey you." Booth wrapped his arms around her and kissed ever so gently on the lips. She was a very responding recipient to the welcome.

She scanned his face, and made note that his bruises were fading just a little bit, and the red marks were fading, but the dark, dark circles under his eyes remained. "You look tired Booth, are you holding up alright?"

He took her coat and hung in up in the closet.

"I'm doing okay," he tried to smile her worry away, "I'm glad I got to spend the day with Parker, and now the old man is here. My day is really getting better by the minute." He kissed her forehead and guided her towards the room where the other boys had settled. Before they entered the room, she stopped him by putting her hand on his chest and asked him,

"I thought we weren't telling anyone about us yet."

"C'mon Bones, it's my Grandfather, there are no secrets between us, and I asked Parker this afternoon what he would think of us together and he said 'cool', so I guess that means you're in!" She smiled at him and took his hand as they entered the kitchen.

As they settled around the table and began the dinner, Brennan was amazed at the family dynamic that played out before her. The three generations of Booths bickered and bantered and teased and complemented each other in a way that amused her. They, by no means, excluded her in their relations. She almost felt as though she belonged to this family. It felt fantastic. The conversation took an awkward pause when, in his childhood innocence, Parker asked Brennan,

"Did you know that my Uncle Jared died and went up to heaven? He's gonna wait for us there and when we see him again, we're gonna play a game of football. I get to be the quarterback."

Brennan glanced quickly at Booth; he nodded slightly, implying that she should speak freely. She was getting better at this non-verbal communication thing.

"Yes, Parker. I know. I'm very sorry."

"That's okay Bones." He swirled around the last of the chocolate sauce on his dessert plate. He obviously didn't understand the full ramifications of what death was, but she could tell that Booth had definitely spoken with him about it.

"So, Park, I think it's time to say goodnight to our guests, and get ready for bed." Parker didn't whine or argue, he just very politely stood up, pushed in his chair, and said goodnight to two who were left at the table. He went to his room with his dad and prepared for the night time ritual that was habit to him.

The Grandfather and Brennan sat in silence for a few moments, before he began,

"You know Doctor Brennan; I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for Seeley, not just over the last few days, but over the last few years. He makes it pretty clear that he wouldn't be here without you." His smile made her smile.

"He says the very same thing about you. I guess I should thank you too. Booth tells me he is who he is today because of you, that you made him the man he is, and I happen to think he's a very good man."

"He thinks you're a remarkable woman." Brennan looked into the familiar brown eyes and saw the sincerity behind their depths.

"Thank you." That was all she was able to reply before Seeley came back to the room.

"What are you guys talking about?" He asked with a sparkle in his eye. They both replied in unison,

"You."

_**Author's note:**_

I'm not a big fan of footnotes, and I won't leave many, but I felt I really needed to take a few lines here and thank everyone profoundly for their kind reviews of my story. You make my day. Keep reading.

Peace!


	7. The pain in the brain

Chapter Seven

Even though Booth was practically on his knees begging her to stay, she decided it would be better for her to go home to her own bed. She told him he looked tired and that he needed some solid sleep, but what she didn't admit to him was that she was a little nervous about sleeping with him with his son in the next room, and his grandfather in the other.

As she prepared to leave, she said goodnight to Booth's Grandfather, and he pulled her into another huge hug.

"It was very nice to meet you." She kissed him gently on the cheek, startling herself as to how she was so comfortable with this man already.

"We'll see you soon Temperance. Drive carefully, and call when you get home." The older man helped her with her coat, and Booth walked her out to her car.

"Well, I see the famous Booth magic has snared another victim. I think he's pretty smitten with you Bones." Seeley opened her car door, but before she got in, he caught her with a slow, passionate kiss.

"I think it's more than mutual. Your Grandfather is a wonderful human being. You're lucky to have had him watching out for you and Jared." The mention of his brother's name brought an anguished look to his face, and drew more attention to the black under his eyes. She was concerned. He didn't look well. She ran her fingers from the bruise on his cheek to his lips, and he caught her hand and kissed her fingers.

"Sleep well tonight Seeley. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely Temperance."

She got into the car and shut the door. She glanced at him before she started the car; he was looking over his shoulder at something, she followed his gaze, but didn't see anything. He turned back to her and pressed his fingers against the window. She smiled, and started her car moving. In her rear-view mirror, she saw him looking over his shoulder again, by the time she had reached the corner; he was walking back towards the building.

It turned out; Temperance did not see Booth the next day, or the next. She was incredibly busy with the case that she and Perotta were trying to solve. So far they had narrowed the identity of the murderer down to about 20 suspects, and it was taking all their time travelling around doing interviews. She was exhausted. She had spoken to Booth on the phone that morning, and he said he was also very busy, trying to arrange plans for Jared's funeral. Complicating the matters was Booth's father. He seemed to think that Jared should be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, while Booth tried to convince him that a man who had killed himself while driving drunk, was not considered a national hero. It had not yet come to blows, but Booth was not optimistic. Brennan could hear the tension in Booth's voice. It was not good for him. She wondered what she could do to help.

She was sitting on the couch in her office late in the afternoon thinking about a solution to that particular problem, when she was startled by a set of fingers running along the nape of her neck. She jumped up and turned around, only to face Booth who was laughing at her reaction.

"Booth! It's not nice to sneak up on people like that! I could have seriously hurt you, you know." Her voiced seemed mad, but her eyes betrayed her. They matched the humour in his.

He walked around the couch, and looking back at the door to her office, and the windows, he determined no one was nearby, and risked a quick kiss.

"I missed you." He took her hand and sat down on the couch, forcing her to follow.

She looked at him carefully; analyzing his face in the matter she analyzed anything, thoroughly. He seemed even paler than the last time she had seen him, and the dark circles under his eyes had not eased. Though it had only been a few days, she swore he had lost weight. He sighed, and leaned his head back on the couch. She put her hand on his knee, and he put his hand on top of hers.

"How are you doing?" Her voice was filled with genuine concern.

"Well, plans are finalized. The funeral will be this Friday, only four more days before I put my baby brother in the ground. I can't believe he's gone Bones. He's the one who's supposed to help me deal with my dad, and he left me all alone. I'm fixing things for him again." His eyes were closed.

"You are not alone. You have your Grandfather, and Parker, and everyone at the Jeffersonian. We all love you, and you have me." She squeezed his knee. He smiled, but kept his eyes closed.

That's how Sweets found them when he knocked on her door and crossed the threshold with a file in his hands. "Oh, hey Booth, hey Dr. Brennan. I have that profile you asked me to put together. Whoa Booth, you don't look very good."

"I'm fine Sweets. I'm just a little preoccupied right now." Booth sat up a little bit on the couch, trying to make himself appear more alert. He waved his hand in front of his face as though he was trying to shoo something away. Both Brennan and Sweets caught the gesture and they looked at each other but didn't say anything.

"Well, you've been through a very traumatic experience recently and sometimes your body shuts itself down to help your brain deal with the underlying reason for the anxiety."

"I don't have anxiety, or whatever you said there, I have a dead brother, and a father who blames me. What I have is a head ache, and your psycho babble is not going to help it." With that, Booth stood up, and stormed out of Brennan's office. On his way out the door, he turned back to Sweets, and said,

"Stay out of it Sweets, this is a grown-up problem. Something you know nothing about!"

His outburst surprised Brennan, and without looking at Sweets, she chased after him, catching up to him just about at the platform where the autopsies were performed on the remains that needed to be identified. There was no one there now; most of the staff had gone for lunch. Booth heard Brennan's footsteps catching up to him, and he stopped to wait for her. She had hold of his arm before he knew it and made him look at her.

"Sweets didn't mean anything by what he said, you know. He is just concerned for your well being. So am I." She had that look in her eyes that melted him. It was a look that she did not use very often, and he felt warm knowing it was for him.

"I know Bones, I'm sorry. I just have this stupid head ache that won't go away and it's making me short tempered." He wanted to touch her, but he couldn't risk it. There were still a few witnesses around.

"Maybe you should go see a doctor?"

"I plan on seeing my favourite doctor tonight; she'll take care of me." He raised one eyebrow, hoping she got his hint. She did. She leaned close to him and whispered,

"I'll see you later."

He looked around, and seeing no one paying any attention to them, he winked, and turned around to leave. Her eyes followed him until he had exited the lab. She walked back to her office, where Sweets was still standing, looking slightly shocked.

"Is he okay?"

"No, but he will be," she changed the subject as fast as she could, "You said you had that profile for Agent Perotta and I?" He looked at her for a second, and then opened the file he was holding, and sat down on the chair by her desk.

The rest of the afternoon was occupied by paperwork. She was exhausted further by a visit from Angela, who still refused to believe there was nothing going on between her and Booth. She was close to telling Angela the truth, but she didn't want to betray Booth until they both agreed that their relationship was able to handle the scrutiny that it would be under when the world knew what had finally happened. Angela finally left, exasperated that her friend was still in denial that she was madly in love with the tall, good looking FBI agent. Some day...

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The evening passed slowly once she was home. Booth hadn't told her what time he would be coming over, so she laid on her couch with a book to relax before he arrived. Without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep and was awoken some time later by soft lips on hers. She opened her eyes and was looking directly into brown eyes that were soft, and warm and loving. She smiled.

"Hello sleeping beauty." He sat beside where she was laying on the couch, and ran his fingers through her hair.

"How did you get in here?" Her eyes were still sleepy and he leaned down and kissed them both in turn. He pointed to his chest and grinned.

"Did you forget that I'm a Special Agent?"

"No, but I've also seen you pick locks before. Remind me to get you a key cut, so you don't get arrested when one of my neighbours sees you doing that."

"Deal."

Further conversation was cut off by the fact that their lips were otherwise engaged. He picked her up off the couch and carried her to the bedroom, where they made the sweetest love that they had yet. The physical effort drained them both and they had fallen asleep, arms around each other. She awoke in the middle of the night, and crawled out of bed to use the bathroom. When she returned she noticed that Booth was awake, but he was holding his head in his hands. She knelt over him and brushed her fingers over his. He lowered his hands and smiled at her. She crawled under the covers beside him, and he wrapped his arms around her.

They lay in silence for quite a while, when they both broke it at the same time.

"Temperance, I have to be..."

"Seeley... have you ever..."

They looked at each other and laughed.

"You go first." She conceded to him.

He kissed her on the mouth before he began,

"I was just wondering if your neighbour always played his music so loud in the middle of the night. It's pounding in my head."

"Seeley, there's no music. I don't know what you are hearing." She looked at him, but couldn't make out a facial expression in the dark. She couldn't tell if he was joking.

"Oh." That was strange. "What were you going to ask me?

"I just wanted to know if you ever considered having any more children." She blurted it out before she lost her nerve.

He was silent for a while, and she wondered if he was ever going to respond.

"That's coming out of left field there a little bit, Bones? What makes you wonder that right now?"

She waited a minute before responding. "Why would it be coming from left field, what does that mean?"

He kissed her temple and laughed to himself. "Seriously, what makes you wonder that?"

"It's just that, when we were taking care of Andy, I started to wonder about having children. Or at least a child anyway. I think it would be nice to have a legacy so that you are not forgotten when you die. I think I have a lot of pleasing attributes, especially my intelligence, which would ensure a future with scholars and academics. I mean, I look at you with Parker and I see so much of you in him, genetically speaking, and I know that he brings you so much joy. I just wonder what it would be like." She was tracing figure eights on his chest while she was talking.

"Are you asking me if I want to have a child with you?" His voice held no trace of laughter. He leaned up on one elbow to look at her.

"I don't know, I just wondered."

"We can talk about it later Bones, never say never. We have lots of time to wonder about that." He leaned down and kissed her. His kisses went from her mouth to her neck and down her chest, when suddenly he moaned and pulled back.

He swung out of bed, still moaning. She reached for the light beside the bed, and when it came on she saw him. He had fallen to his knees, his head in his hands. His moans became cries, and she rushed over to him, trying to pry his hands off of his face.

"BOOTH! C'mon...what's wrong?" She finally got his hands away from his face, only to see his eyes roll into the back of his head, and he started to seize. She backed up a bit, and controlled his fall the rest of the way to the floor. The seizure had not stopped, she dove for the phone that was beside the bed and called 911. She gave the operator a quick summary of what was going on, all the while Booth continued to shake. His whole body was writhing. The operator informed her that help was on the way, and to stay on the line. She set the phone on the floor and held his head in her lap. She realized then that they were both naked, and she quickly threw some clothes on, the first ones she could see, and covered him with a sheet.

She went back to him, he didn't seem to be quaking so hard now, but he was still unconscious. She held him in her arms and waited for help to arrive.

"C'mon Booth, stay with me now. You can do this, Stay with me...


	8. The past, present and future?

Chapter Eight

Brennan was trying not to panic. Her brain was trying to be rational, but her heart was in overdrive. She sat on her bedroom floor with her partner in her arms, begging him to wake up. So far, it was to no avail. She had no idea how much time had passed when she heard the commotion at the front door. She ran down the hallway to let the paramedics into her apartment, they followed her to the bedroom and her unconscious other half. They immediately got to work, taking his vitals, inserting an IV, and connecting oxygen to his face. One of the paramedics turned to her and asked,

"What exactly happened here?" They were loading Booth onto a stretcher, his face looked so white. It terrified her.

"He was complaining of a headache, and all of a sudden he collapsed and started having a seizure, he's been unconscious ever since." Brennan felt her voice breaking as they walked him down the hallway toward the front door.

"What was happening immediately prior to his collapse?" The paramedic pressed her for more information.

"We were, uh, being intimate..." Tears were now falling from her eyes.

"That would explain the elevated blood pressure," one paramedic said to the other, "Possibly the Tachycardia too!"

They continued to question her as they went down the stairs to the waiting ambulance. They loaded him quickly into the vehicle and secured him in place. Without asking, she climbed in beside Booth and reached for his hand. She was not relinquishing this grip until they tore his hand from hers. They didn't.

The ambulance pulled away from the building at a slow pace. The ambulance technician who was in the back with Brennan asked her how long had he had these headaches. She told him all about the fight with his father and how he had been knocked out only days earlier. The paramedic leaned toward the front of the ambulance and told his partner to step on it. The sirens came on and Brennan felt the vehicle accelerate considerably, which did nothing to slow her heart down. It was pounding so hard.

"Which hospital are we going to?' Brennan asked.

"Uh... Bethesda is the closest. Is that okay?"

"Yes. They have his file there." The paramedic did a double take,

"Are you the author, Temperance Brennan?" When she nodded, he continued, "My wife loves your books. Is this Andy, the FBI agent who helps your main character solving crimes?"

She looked at him for a second, "Well, he's the man the character is based on, loosely anyway. If you don't mind, could you focus a little more on his physical condition and not so much on me?"

"Yes m'am."

They were at the hospital in less than ten minutes. Two doctors on call had been warned of their arrival and were waiting for the ambulance. One of the doctors was the same one who had treated Booth only days earlier. Brennan struggled to remember his name. It came to her eventually. Doctor Callaway. He recognized her and glanced sharply down at the man on the stretcher.

"What happened here?" Doctor Callaway asked whoever was listening to him. The paramedics saved Brennan the trouble of explaining the story again, and she just walked beside Booth, holding his hand. It felt cold. This was the same hand that had been touching her passionately only hours earlier. The memory warmed her a little, but his cold hand brought her back down again. They pushed the unconscious man to the trauma ward, and the doctors began a thorough examination of him. His heart rate had slowed and his blood pressure had dropped. The doctors worked a little faster. Someone called out,

"Pupils are fixed and dilated!" This scared Brennan. She knew what that meant. It meant that he was not responding to stimuli. Crap.

The medical team stepped away from the patient and had a quick conference on the other side of the room from Brennan. One of the doctors had a clip board in his hand and he was flipping pages, he glanced at Brennan a few times. She wondered what the hell was going on. Why weren't they saying anything?

Doctor Callaway walked over to her and put his hand on Brennan's shoulder. She looked down at it and then back up at him.

"Dr. Brennan, we have to ask your permission, as his next of kin listed, to do something. It's experimental, but it's shown great success in the trials. It appears that Agent Booth has a degree of swelling in his brain, and we have no idea how severe. To buy us some time, we would like to put him in a hypothermic state, and that will enable us to determine the cause of the problem, and hopefully find a solution." He waited patiently for her reply.

"What does that mean exactly?" Her eyes were wide as she digested the initial diagnosis the doctor gave her.

"By putting him in the hypothermic state, it will slow down the fluids travelling through his body, and thusly, practiacally halting the swelling. Temporarily anyway. It will give us more time to diagnose and fix the problem."

"Do it." She had tears in her eyes again. The doctor patted her shoulder.

"We will do everything we can to help your partner. We will make him our top priority." Doctor Callaway turned to one of the nurses and asked her to bring in ice, and a lot of it. "Call CT, we need the scanner five minutes ago."

Temperance stood back and let the Doctors work. It wasn't long before her partners body had been completely packed in ice, and they were preparing him to move upstairs to the scanner. The nurses held her back as she tried to follow, telling her she would have to wait. She rushed past them and stopped by Seeley, her eyes flowing. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, and whispered something in his ear. To those standing nearby it sounded like she said 'I've always loved you too'. They wheeled him away, and she was left standing by herself. The tears continued to flow.

She stood there, for who knows how long, staring at the door through which he was taken further away from her. Eventually a nurse came to her and asked if she would like to wait in a private room, until they had a word on his condition. She asked if there was anyone she could call, but Brennan told her she would rather make the calls herself, if she could have access to a phone. She did not have her cell phone or anything with her. Temperance was led into a room, just off the main hallway, and she stared at the phone for a while, getting the nerve to push the buttons.

She called Booth's home number first. It rang for so long she didn't think anyone was going to answer. Finally, as she was about to hang up, a tired voice muttered "Hello?"

Brennan explained to Booth's grandfather the situation, and he told her he was on his way. He just had to call a cab. He told her not to worry, that as long as Seeley's good luck charm, namely her, was there, he would be just fine. She couldn't tell him that she didn't believe in luck. She believed in science. That's what would save him now, if anything could. Her heart was breaking with the fear that Booth would not make it.

She dialled the next number but hung up the phone before it rang. She wasn't sure if calling Angela was the best idea. As much as she loved her best friend, she knew that by asking Angela to come there, she and Booth's relationship would be known. She weighed her options for a few minutes and decided that she didn't care; she would deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. She really needed her friend. She dialled the number again, this time letting it patch through.

The other end of the line was picked up by the artist, who didn't sound as though she had been sleeping, even though it was quite late. Or quite early, it was a fine line.

"Hello?"

"Angela?" Brennan tried to keep her voice steady, but she knew it wavered a little.

"Bren, what's wrong, why are you calling so late?"

"I'm at the Hospital. I came here with Booth... I wonder if you would be able to come over here, I think I really need someone here with me right now." Her voice finally broke; gentle sobs freaked her best friend instantly.

"Oh my god, Sweetie, is everything okay?"

"No...Please come, we're at Bethesda. Please Ange, I can't handle this..."

"I'm on my way. Hold on honey, I'll be there before you know it." Angela knew that Brennan didn't ask for help very often, and something must be wrong. She was confused and a little scared. She looked at the man in the bed, next to her, and considered waking him up, but chose not to. Hodgins would understand.

At the hospital, Temperance paced around the small room, glancing constantly at the door, hoping for someone to walk through, hoping for good news, hoping for any news. Half an hour passed with nothing to be heard but the sound of her shoes scraping against the carpet as she continued to walk around and around. She was really starting to excrete adrenalin. She could not remember ever feeling so anxious. The man she loved and had finally gotten together with could be dying, and she was stuck in a stupid room, without even a window. She wanted to kick something. The door finally opened, its hinges creaking lightly. She spun towards it.

Angela stood in the doorway and scrutinized Brennan from top to bottom. Her eyes grew wide as she noticed something.

"Bren? Isn't that Booth's shirt you're wearing? Isn't it inside out? Her eyes grew wider as she scanned her friend further. "Did you guys ... you know...finally....?"

Temperance looked panicked. Angela suspected she was freaking out because she had slept with Booth and now she had to deal with some emotions that she had a hard time admitting were real, never mind being experienced by her.

"Yes, I mean, we did, but tonight..." Angela cut her off.

"Are telling me that you and Booth had sex, and you put him in the hospital?" She laughed out loud, "Was it his back? Wow, sister, you really must be good in bed!"

"NO! Angela... I mean, yes I am, but that's not what happened. Booth had some kind of seizure and Doctor Callaway says he has swelling in his head, and they froze him, to save his life, and now...I don't know anything more!"

For the second time, Angela scrutinized her friend. She was starting to catch on that Temperance wasn't just panicked about some denied emotions, but there was something serious happening there. She really looked at her friend. Brennan's hair was a mess, but pulled back into a ponytail. She wore no makeup, her nose and eyes were red, like she had seriously been crying. She was pale and looked like she was on the verge of falling over.

Angela went to her and hugged her. Brennan totally collapsed into a sobbing heap, while Angela tried to comfort her. Slowly, the sobbing subsided and Angela was able to get her friend to fill her in on the gist of what had transpired that evening. The two friends sat in chairs and now watched the door together. Hours passed with no word. From the direction of the nurses, Booth's grandfather had found them in the room, and now the three of them sat in anxious discomfort.

Brennan and the old man sat next to each other, his hand gently caressing her back, his other hand in hers. Her head was leaned against his shoulder. Angela sat, slumped in her chair. The three of them jumped inches when the door finally opened, and Doctor Callaway entered the room. He had changed from his white lab coat into scrubs, Brennan being the only one who noticed this. It made her stomach drop when she did. He looked at her for permission to speak freely. She nodded.

"I'm afraid some of the tests we have done have revealed something in Seeley's head. It looks like there was an injury that occurred some time ago, it's a type of whiplash injury, it's very similar to injuries reported by veterans of the Iraq war, it's caused by being in the proximity of an explosive charge blast, and pressure, or a pulse, if you will, travels through the body and causes damage to the cells, especially the cells in the brain. It can cause some bleeding," he paused to see if everyone followed. They were all especially intelligent people, and they all did.

"Well, it seems that in Agent Booth's brain, this bleeding caused clots, that were small enough to be benign at the time, but very recently, one of these clots became dislodged and caused bleeding again."

Brennan gasped and Angela reached for her hand. Senior Booth held onto her tightly. The tightness of his grip revealing his emotional reaction to the information they were being given.

"So, we've determined that this new bleeding, while not excessive, has built up and is what is causing the pressure in his brain."

"What can you do?" Temperance was the only one who could find their voice.

"We're already prepping him for surgery. The top neurosurgeon in the county is based in Boston, and he's on his way here right now in a private jet. He's about an hour away. We've called in a favour, so he will be the one actually doing the surgery. They're going to drill a hole in his head, and insert a shunt to drain the excessive fluid." The Doctor held the door open and gestured for them to follow him into the hallway.

As he led them to the elevators, he explained to them that if they got the pressure under control fast enough, there was a very good chance that brain damage would be minimal. Brennan worried what minimal meant. They approached the elevator and the Doctor stopped them with one hand raised.

"I can take you to see him, but I'm afraid only immediate family members are allowed." He looked at Angela.

The grandfather stepped into the elevator but the two women stayed where they were. The Doctor and the old man looked at Brennan; he reached his hand out to take hers.

"That includes you, Temperance."

In a normal circumstance, she would have been touched by the gesture. Her need to see Booth trumped her rationalization of whether or not she was family. She looked back at Angela, who said,

"Go Sweetie, I'll be right here when you get back. Go tell Booth that we love him." Angela had tears in her eyes.

Brennan hugged her best friend and took the hand of the grandfather; he pulled her into the lift. As the elevator ascended, Doctor Callaway explained that Booth had been put on a respirator, because his breathing had been compromised. This did not sound good to either of the ones who cared for the comatose man.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. They were outside an operating theatre. The windows on the left revealed a person on the table, and a flurry of masked nurses and Doctors rushed around the room, preparing for the arrival of the esteemed Doctor who was in the air right then. Brennan almost cried out when she realized that the person on the table was her Booth.

Doctor Callaway passed each of them a hat, a mask, gloves and a gown. Their gear was donned in moments and they approached the unconscious FBI agent.

Brennan went to his head, and stroked his eyelids gently, lovingly. Most everything else was covered. She could see that he was still packed in ice, and his skin had a bluish tinge to it. She leaned down to his ear and whispered,

"Don't you dare die Booth, I know you can hear me, I love you... so many of us do. Pease don't abandon me. I need you Seeley. I'll pray to your God for you."

She didn't know what she meant by that.

She heard someone call out from the other side of the room;

"Doctor Hughes' plane has just landed...he'll be here in twenty!"


	9. Dealing

Chapter Nine

Brennan opened her eyes to darkness. She closed them, and opened them again. It was still dark; she had no idea where she was. She sat up and let her eyes adjust to the room she was in. Nothing looked familiar. She suddenly remembered the dream she had been having, she and Booth were making love, and it was sweet and passionate. She sighed, it was only a dream. A door opened on the other side of the room and light flooded in. She shut her eyes in reflex.

Angela poked her head in through the door and proceeded the rest of the way in when she realized her friend was awake.

"Oh good, you're up. I was just sent to get you, Booth is out of surgery." Angela stood beside Brennan as she got up off the sofa where she had been sleeping.

"Damn," muttered Brennan.

"What's wrong?" The tall artist wondered out loud.

"I thought that maybe this was all a dream. That maybe Booth was fine, and I was experiencing some sort of psychotic episode, where I was hallucinating everything. How is he? What did they say?" Brennan was now fully awake, and in control of herself; the dream instantly forgotten as she became conscious of reality.

"I only saw him for a minute or two. They're waiting for you before they tell us anything. Booth's grandfather is already with him in the ICU. So far, he's still alive. That's a start right?" She took Brennan by the arm as they walked down the hallway.

"How long have I been asleep?" She leaned on Angela a little bit, grateful for the support. Her legs felt very weak.

"A couple of hours. The Doctors came out about 20 minutes ago, and showed us where he was."

They took the elevator up to the Intensive Care Unit. Angela led her to a room at the end of the hall, but stopped her before she went in.

"Brace yourself Sweetie, he doesn't look good."

Despite Angela's warning, Temperance felt her knees weaken considerably when she entered the room. Booth's head was wrapped entirely in gauze, and there were tubes coming out of it, leading somewhere she couldn't see. There were machines all around him, some breathing for him, some measuring his heart rate, and a few whose purpose she didn't know. Even his eyes were wrapped up. She approached the bed, trying to find the strength to not completely fall apart. She leaned on the bed for support; Booth's grandfather came up behind her and put his arm around her waist. She felt stronger instantly.

"I'm so sorry Temperance. I can't imagine what you are feeling right now. No one should see the one they love in a position like this." He kissed her cheek gently. She looked calmer.

Angela, who had followed Brennan into the room silently, looked at the old man. Did she hear that right? 'One they love'? She thought Booth and Brennan had only slept together, she didn't know it had escalated this far. She stayed silent, wondering what her friend would say.

"No one should have to see their grandson like this, but here we are right?" There was no denial of her true feelings, Angela was a little surprised.

Doctor Callaway entered the room with another man, presumed to be the Doctor from Boston. They both had that impartial 'Doctor' look on their faces. Brennan was trying to read further, but they gave nothing away.

"Doctor Brennan, Mr. Booth, this is Doctor Nathan Hughes, my colleague who did the surgery on Seeley. He'll give you a better rundown of the situation."

Doctor Hughes took a few seconds to shake the hands of everyone in the room before he started his briefing.

"Well, we have managed to drain a considerable amount of fluid from the brain of the patient here. Spinal taps done before and after the surgery have indicated a significant drop in intracranial pressure, which is positive. We have him in a chemically induced coma right now to enable a recovery from the trauma. We won't know the degree of damage until later, but we're hoping for a positive outcome. The bleeding was in a part of the brain that doesn't control any significant bodily functions, but there's always a chance that there will be some long lasting effects. His condition is still very serious. We can only wait now. It's up to him."

Everyone in the room looked at Brennan, her eyes were closed. Her shoulders were starting to shake with forth coming sobs. Angela had never seen this strong, independent woman so close to the edge. She and the grandfather both had hold of her now. She buried her face in Angela's shoulder and the expression of grief let itself out. The Doctors took that opportunity to depart, leaving the family to deal with their emotions. Everyone cried for a while, until a nurse interrupted them.

"Mr. Booth, there's a man downstairs claiming to be the father of the patient, he's being a little unruly, can you come and help us deal with him?" The nurse looked frustrated.

"Yes, I'll be right down," He looked at Brennan, who was looking at him with her big, blue, weepy eyes. "I'm sorry honey, he's Seeley's father. I had to call him. I won't bring him up though, unless you say its okay." He rubbed her back a little.

"It's okay, I understand. I just really don't want to deal with him right now." Brennan was starting to have suspicions that he might be responsible for the condition that Booth was in right now. She was more grateful than ever that the grandfather was there. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and followed the nurse into the hallway. He wasn't gone more than five minutes when another nurse opened the door.

"There's a crew of people downstairs claiming to be from the Jeffersonian, they were asking for you Doctor Brennan."

Brennan looked at Angela with a look that crossed with pleading with panic. She opened her mouth to talk, but found that she had no voice.

"I called Cam, to fill her in on the situation, she must have called everyone. I'll go deal with her, and tell everyone what's going on." The artist noticed the look change on Brennan's face to one of relief. She also followed the nurse into the hall. Brennan was finally alone with Booth.

She edged closer to the bed, slightly afraid of what she would do. There were so many tubes and wires running in and out of her partners body that she didn't know where to touch him. She had to though. She finally took his hand, there was an IV line connected to it, but she was careful not to disturb it. She wanted to say something, she had read that a coma patient can hear when spoken to, but she didn't know what to say. Or more importantly, what to say first. She leaned down and pressed her cheek against his. She whispered,

"Booth, stay with me okay. You finally get me admit that I love you, you cannot abandon me now!" She straightened up, secretly hoping that her words would bring him back, but her realistic mind knew that it was fruitless. She kissed his forehead, which was one of the other few places that had no machines attached to it, though it was wrapped in bandage. The beeping of the heart monitor increased and she felt his body start to tremble.

She dropped his hand and ran for the door, crying for help. Two nurses came running in and started flicking switches on various machines. Doctor Callaway followed not seconds later. He took out his stethoscope, and listened to the man's chest.

"Is it another seizure?" Brennan was terrified.

"No, this is just a side effect of the hypothermic state that we put him in. It's actually good news," Brennan looked confused. The Doctor continued,

"You see, when the core temperature of the body drops, the initial reaction is to shiver. When the shivering stops, that's a sign that the hypothermia is worsening. In this case, we're bringing his body temperature back up, so he's reaching the shivering stage again. This means that his body is responding to autonomic reflexes. This is very good news." The doctor was writing something in the chart at the foot of the bed.

Brennan was trying very hard to be relieved, but the terror of watching him seize on the floor of her bedroom was still very, very fresh. The doctor and nurses left again and she reclaimed his hand and settled onto the chair that was beside his bed. She laid her head on the bed, so that her lips were in contact with his knuckles. She felt slight warmth in his hand again, his body periodically shivered, she closed her eyes.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The medical staff of the ICU let her stay that first day and all of the night. She was no bother to them. She didn't get in the way, she wasn't demanding, she just sat by the man's bed, holding his hand. No one could even remember her getting up to go the bathroom. His condition didn't change, and the nurses convinced her, eventually, to go home and get some rest. Angela was there to take her home.

Brennan didn't say much on the ride back to her apartment. Angela tried to fill the silence by asking her all sorts of question about the events that had transpired in the last week. Brennan was honest and actually happy to have Angela's feedback on the moments that had led to where they were. Her and Booth.

Angela was quietly and secretly thrilled. Her best friend had finally caught up. She hoped that Booth would be alright. This would destroy Brennan if he weren't.

Although she freaked a little bit when she first entered her bedroom, where so many emotions had played themselves out over the last few nights, Brennan managed to have a shower and sleep through the night. Angela spent the night on the couch and was there for her friend when she awoke in the morning.

She took the time to call Rebecca and apprise her of the situation with her son's father. They both decided it would be best if Parker stayed away from the hospital for now. It would be very traumatic for the young boy to see his father in such a state. Rebecca thanked her and was given the promise by Temperance that she would be regularly updated of his situation.

As they prepared to leave for the hospital, the phone rang. Temperance jumped at the sound, but when she didn't recognize the number on the phone, she found she had the courage to answer it. It was not the hospital. She walked down the hall to take the phone call, out of earshot of Angela. When she came back into the doorway, where Angela waited patiently, she explained,

"That was the FBI, they want to question me about the assault on Booth, and everyone down at headquarters thinks that Booth's father should be charged with a federal crime. They're all pissed that this happened."

"Wow." Angela was shocked." What are you going to do?"

"I said I would meet them at the Jeffersonian as soon as I could get there."

"Let's go." Angela made a dramatic gesture that Brennan should go through the door first. A little smile played on her lips.

"Thanks Ange. For everything."

"That's what friends are for."

"Hey, I know that one..." Angela laughed.

On the ride to the Jeffersonian, Brennan took the time to call the hospital to check on her partner's condition. There was no major change, but his body temperature had returned to normal, and his pulse and vitals were stable. They let her know that his Grandfather was there with him now, and if there was anything she needed to know, they would call her right away. She let them know she was grateful.

As she and Angela entered her office in the lab, they were met by two FBI agents, both wearing black suits, white shirts, and very serious looking. They introduced themselves as Agent Smith and Agent Smith.

Angela laughed. Brennan looked at her questioningly.

"What's so funny?"

"You know... Agent Smith...from the movie 'The Matrix'."

"We hear it all the time ma'am. It's just a coincidence," one of the agents said to her, while checking her out, head to toe. She smiled.

"I don't know what that is." The look on her face was slightly annoyed.

"It's okay Bren, it's not important." She gestured for the agents to continue with explanations as to why they were there.

They asked that Angela wait outside, as they wanted to question Doctor Brennan in private. She waited just outside the office and before long she was joined by Cam, Hodgins and Wendell.

"What's going on in there?" Cam asked Angela.

She explained the story, as much of it that she knew anyway. The Medico-Legal crew speculated about the interview taking place in the office, when after a while, the door burst open and Brennan came rushing over to them. She addressed them all,

"Agents Smith want to know if the Lab is willing to help analyze the events, to see if there is enough evidence to charge Booth's father with assaulting an FBI agent. The charges could be raised to murder if Booth dies." Every one of the team members saw the color of her face drain when she said those words out loud.

"Anything we can do help." Cam answered her, "It'll be okay Doctor Brennan. Booth will be fine."

Temperance just nodded and went back to her office to give the agents their answer. They started work immediately.

Brennan came and went over the next day as the evidence mounted. They spent hours going over simulations on the Angelator, trying to determine which blow delivered the near fatal injury that Booth continued to be comatose from. They had copies of the MRI and CT scan of Booth, and they re-enacted possible events by going over the evidence. Every move was closely watched by the FBI Agents Smith. This one had to be by the book.

She spent every moment not at the lab with Booth, in the hospital. The Doctors were discussing trying to remove the respirator to see if he would breathe on his own. They decided to try on Friday. The day of Jared's funeral.

Temperance initially had no intention of going to the funeral, but she decided that she would go for Booth, who would not be there. She was not looking forward the inevitable run-in with Booth's father, who she had continued to deny access to his son. She suspected she could also be supportive to Booth's Grandfather. The day would be rough for him. He had been so kind to her; it would be a small repayment of his consideration.

The funeral proceeded without incident, the people who knew the full extent of the situation, kept Temperance and Booth's father far apart. He tried to have a confrontation with her at one point, but she just gave him a disgusted snort, and turned to walk away. As much as she wanted to drop him where he stood, and she could, she decided enough violence had been passed for a lifetime. She looked around, Angela looked impressed, and the rest of the Jeffersonian crowd and more than a few in the FBI, made sure they came between the two as she walked to her car.

As she entered the hospital, and headed towards Booth's room, she was stopped by Doctor Callaway, who informed her of the good news that Booth was breathing on his own, and they had stabilized the pressure in his head. She was more optimistic than she had been in days. He told her that they had started to decrease the amount of the drugs that were keeping him in the coma. They might see results soon. She thanked the Doctor, and headed a little bit more quickly to his room.

She opened the door, and immediately noticed that there were a few less machines in the room. The heart monitor continued to beep steadily; she looked at him. There were fewer bandages around his face and she noticed that his eyes were no longer bandaged. She noticed something else...

His eyes were open.


	10. Improvement

Chapter Ten

His eyes were open and she rushed to the side of his bed. Immediately, she noticed that his eyes stayed fixed, and there was no focus in them. She took his hand; there was normal warmth to it again. She looked closer into his eyes but her heart realized that there was no sign of alertness. Yet. She went out to the hallway to find a nurse, to tell her about the apparent awakening. The nurse immediately paged Doctor Callaway.

He took only a few minutes to come to the room, where Temperance had already taken Seeley's hand again, and was sitting beside him. His eyes continued to stare, unfocused, on some fixed spot above him. She had tears in her eyes.

Doctor Callaway did a quick examination of his patient, taking his blood pressure, all the vitals. He shone his light in Booth's eyes, and he thought he mumbled under his breath,

"Hmmm."

Temperance heard him.

"What is it? Why are his eyes open, but he doesn't seem awake?" She desperately wanted to hear her partner's voice again, to look into his eyes, to love him physically, though she knew it would be awhile before that was possible. She was addicted to Booth. She needed him.

"Well, this is normal. He still seems to be deep in the coma, but sometimes, there are automatic movements, such as eye opening, or muscle spasms. This is a sign that his brain function is still within a normal parameter for recovery. When I flashed the light in his eyes, there was a slight contraction of the pupils," He looked at Temperance, "I am very confident that your partner here is on the path of improvement. It may take time though. We'll do a full brain scan later to determine the degree of functionality. I am confident that we will be pleased by the results. Keep talking to him. He can hear you."

With that, the Doctor left the two alone; he paused by the door to look back at Brennan. She didn't seem to notice that he was still there. He would never tell her how guilty he felt about this situation. He blamed himself for missing the signs of serious injury when he had first examined Seeley, shortly after he had been knocked unconscious by his father. He had been so busy that day, trying to cover three different wards as the on-call Doctor; he should have seen the signs, done a more in-depth examination. It was too late now. He would do everything in his power to ensure that Seeley made even a partial recovery. He took one last look at Brennan, who had stood up and kissed the unconscious man on the lips, now that they were free of the respirator. He felt the feelings that she had for her partner. Lucky guy, he thought, she was beautiful. Hopefully, Agent Booth could appreciate her again someday. Yes, thought the Doctor, if he could, he would.

Booth's grandfather showed up shortly after the Doctor left, and even though Temperance wanted to spend time alone with Seeley, she was grateful for his company. It was nice to have someone answer her questions. They spoke for hours about Seeley and his childhood, and his life after highschool. His army days and his missions as a sniper. The grandfather happily answered any questions she seemed to have about the man she was in love with. They discussed the birth of Parker, from his perspective, and how it destroyed Seeley when Rebecca wouldn't marry him, and then denied him access to the boy. Brennan had no idea that Booth had been that upset over the situation, she knew Rebecca wouldn't marry him, and why, but she had no idea that it had changed him. The grandfather told her what Booth had told him; that he was afraid to love after that. He was afraid to get his hopes up again, only to have them dashed by some random woman. He saw the look on Brennan's face when he said that, and felt the need to elaborate.

"Seeley told me about a year ago about how he was starting to have serious feelings for a woman that he worked with. I told him to go for it, but he said it was complicated. It was something he had to approach slowly, because he felt that woman was the 'one'. This was the woman for him, but he was afraid of rejection. We talked every week about his progress, but he was no closer to admitting his true feelings for her." The older man looked in her eyes, which were focused on the hand of her partner, being firmly held by hers. Her thumb was gently rubbing his. She looked up into the older brown eyes, sitting across from her; they reflected the warm smile on his face. She smiled back.

"It was you Temperance. He knew you were special, and he never wanted to just have a fling with you. He wanted you for real, forever. He was so happy when I arrived In D.C. the other day, despite the horrible situation that brought me here. He told me that you had expressed your feelings, as had he, and you were on your way," he paused only briefly, "Thank you Temperance for making my grandson so happy, in his time of despair. I'm glad he found you."

The old man now had tears in his eyes as he looked at the younger man on the bed, whose eyes had now closed. Temperance stood up and walked around the bed to hold her partner's grandfather. They both cried; words failed her. Eventually, she went back to the other side, and took Seeley's hand in hers again.

"I love him so much, he has to be okay." She could have sworn that she felt his fingers tighten around hers, ever so slightly, but it happened so fast that she must have imagined it.

"As long as he's got you to come back to, he'll be back." The Grandfather spoke with confidence.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next weeks passed slowly for Temperance. She continued her bedside vigil for her partner, while trying to catch up on her work at the Jeffersonian. She trusted her co-workers to cover for her, and they did so without complaint. The story of her and Booth's situation had travelled like wild fire through both the Jeffersonian, and the FBI. Agent Perotta in particular, did not seem surprised that they had taken their relationship to the next level. It was as if she had known already that something was up. Perotta did most of the field work by herself, with the case that had been given to them prior to Booth's incapacitation, and solved the murder in a few days, with a full confession from the guilty party. She felt it wasn't fair to involve Brennan further, when her mind was clearly somewhere else.

Brennan did her best to avoid Sweets, but he trapped her in her office one day when she was catching up on some emails. He tried desperately to get her to discuss her feelings. She would not cooperate. They were interrupted by Cam, and Brennan had never been so happy to see her boss. Cam asked if they could show her something, a scenario they had created on the Angelator.

As the approached the other side of the lab, she noticed the two FBI agents named Smith were already waiting for them with Angela. They were still trying to find a way to charge Booth's father with a crime.

Cam and Angela showed the others the simulation of the exact punch that they had felt delivered the trauma that had started the bleed in Booth's brain. It had been during their first confrontation, and the second shot that Booth's father had landed on his son's face. It had caused his brain to shake back and forth in his head, and dislodged the tiny clot that had caused all the trouble.

The FBI agents whooped with excitement. They had him.

Brennan shook her head, and added,

"There's no point in charging him. In that particular moment of the incident, his father was threatening me, and Booth threw the first punch. He'll be able to claim self-defence. We will never convict him." Her eyes were sad. The rest of the room quieted down and everyone hung their heads. They weren't used to failure. Angela was the first to break the silence,

"There has to be something we can do? This sucks. Booth's father should pay for what he did." Everyone agreed, but no one had any suggestions. Something finally came to Brennan.

"Does anyone remember that case we had a while ago, where we found the body in the mud pit out in the country? The case with the motorcycle racers?" Everyone but the FBI agents nodded their heads and waited for her to continue.

"Well, in the end, it turned out we didn't have enough evidence to convict, but Booth suggested that we charge the guilty person anyway, not to convict, but so everyone would know what she had done. Can't we do that here?" The frowns of everyone in the rooms changed to smiles.

"That works for me!" Agent Smith was already heading for the door. He turned back to Brennan, "Would you like to come with us?" She was already half way to the door.

The found Booth's father passed out in his hotel room. There were liquor bottles everywhere. His inebriation made the arrest easy, but as they led him out to the car, he looked at Brennan with a sneer, and said,

"I hope you're happy."

She walked up to him and slapped him soundly on the face.

"Why didn't you punch him, we wouldn't have stopped you." Agent Smith told her with a smile. She smiled back,

"Because an open handed contact won't leave a mark." The Agent's respect for her grew tenfold right then.

She went back to the hospital to tell Booth about what had happened. He still wasn't conscious, but he was constantly showing signs of improvement. They had determined by brain scan that he was experiencing certain times of sleep, and awakedness. His movements had increased and were not quite so spastic. A physiotherapist was working with him every day to prevent atrophy of his muscles. His head was now unwrapped and free of any tubes. He looked almost normal again, except that he still hadn't spoken.

She told him all about the day, as it had transpired so far, when Booth's grandfather came into the room and asked if he could speak to her in private. She kissed Seeley gently on the cheek. His eyes were open again. What she didn't notice was that as she left the room, his eyes followed her to the door, and his hand rose slightly towards her.

When they were in the hallway, the Grandfather told her with a heavy heart that he had to go home to Philadelphia. He had originally only planned on staying for two weeks, and that he had already extended his time there, but he had to return home to take care of some legalities. She explained what had transpired with his son that day, and she half expected him to be mad, but he wasn't. He understood. He replied,

"It's about time he took responsibilities for his actions. The time in jail will do him good." He hugged Brennan and kissed her cheek. "Take care of my Grandson. He needs you, and he deserves you. You are one hell of a woman."

She had tears in her eyes when she agreed to his request. She promised to phone him every day and let him know what was going on. She followed him out of the hospital without going back into Seeley's room. She headed for home trying to deal with the emotions that plagued her.

She had taken a long, hot bath and was settling down to sleep when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID and her heart stopped when she recognized the number. It was the hospital. She found her voice and answered the phone,

"Hello?"

"Bones?" The voice was weak and scratchy, but familiar.

"Oh my GOD! Booth?" She nearly dropped the phone. She waited for the voice to continue,

"Bones, I promised you once that I would let you know if I ever died again, well, I think I did, but I'm back now. I'd like to tell you about it in person!" It took him longer than usual to get the words out, but when he finally did, she felt elation and warmth in her heart that shocked her.

She finally dropped the phone. Shock encompassed her and she fainted. She had never done that before.


	11. Dream or real?

Chapter Eleven

Brennan sped most of the way to the hospital. She was still in shock. Her partner was awake, and despite the doctor's warnings that there could be memory loss of varying degrees, he had remembered her and her phone number at least. It was a very good start. She didn't know what to expect. He had sounded normal, if not a little weak and tired. At least as normal as Booth ever sounded. She sped faster.

She ran into the hospital, where she was greeted by smiles from all the nursing staff, which had seen her every day since the day he had been brought there. Every nurse, on her way up to his room, it seemed, knew that Seeley Booth had finally woken up. They all smiled as she rushed past.

She was stopped by one last nurse, as she prepared to open the door to Booth's room. The nurse asked her to wait; the doctor was in with him right now. She saw the frustrated look on the forensic anthropologist's face, and let her know that he seemed to be okay. The look didn't change. It was the longest minute of Temperance's life, or so it seemed. After all this time, he was alert, and just on the other side of this door. She was so close.

It wasn't long before the Doctor came out, he nearly ran into Brennan she was standing so close outside the door. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her.

"We have to run some tests, but he is adamantly refusing to cooperate with us until he can see you. If you could just persuade him that we are only trying to help his recovery that would be greatly appreciated."

Doctor Callaway stepped aside, and left nothing between her and the door. Although she had been so impatient just minutes ago, she was now nervous and found she had difficulty with her motor function. Her hands were shaking as she turned the knob. The door opened and she saw him.

He was sitting up, the head of the bed was raised and he was flexing the fingers on both of his hands. He seemed to be concentrating very hard on the task. He looked up and saw her, and he stopped. She could tell his eyes were trying to focus. When they finally did, he had a crooked little smile on his mouth, and his eyes lit up,

"Whoa," was the first thing he said, "Is it really you, or are you another dream?"

She was frozen. All she could do was stare into his eyes. Finally she croaked,

"Of course I'm not a dream, why would you think that?" She had started to creep closer to his bed, unsure of where this conversation was going. She was nervous.

"Bones, I have had some of the craziest visions in the last little while." He sounded like himself, but she waited and worried a little.

"You mean like, spirit quest visions, because Booth, I don't really believe in those, though anthropologically speaking, they do seem to help certain tribes make the transition between adolescence and adulthood," He shook his head, " You had a very serious condition, and you've been in a coma for weeks. There was trauma to your brain. We thought you were going to die." As much as she tried to keep her voice steady, it broke repeatedly, and tears formed in her eyes.

"It's okay Bones, I'm back now, but I have to ask you one thing..." She was close enough to the bed that he reached out his hand to her; she didn't take it right away.

"Did I tell you that I loved you?" His hand was still outstretched, and his eyes met hers and held them.

She rationalized the events of the last month in her head in that moment. She could deny everything, and make him think he had hallucinated all the times they had made love, or all the times they had 'one of those moments', all the times she showed him she cared. He could be convinced that is was all in his head while he was unconscious, and she wouldn't have to risk the fear that he would leave her some day, to come true. It was her greatest fear. Her biggest liability. Her heart gave her brain a solid, thud, and she placed her hand in his.

"Yes. You told me." She inched a little closer.

"Oh thank God! I thought that I was going to have to find a way to tell you now, without you freaking out."

Her hand was now firmly in his, and she just looked at him, realizing how much she had missed his voice, his smile, his touch.

"Bones," he smiled at her, "I'm still a little weak here, if you want to kiss me, you're going to have to help me out..." His words were cut off by her mouth, firmly attached to his. They stayed that way for some time, interrupted finally by the Doctor, who cleared his throat loudly. Neither of them had even noticed him come back into the room.

Doctor Callaway explained to both of them the tests he wanted to run. They had to be done soon, to make sure that Booth was going be with them, in the land of the conscious, for good. Brennan finally started removing her fingers from his, and kissed him on the lips, quickly, as she prepared to leave, so the Doctor and nurses could do their job. He held her hand for just a moment longer, and asked her to do him a favour.

"Can you track down Doctor Wyatt? Do you remember him? I really need to talk to someone about some of the hallucinations I had. I just don't understand some of them." He smiled at her; the smile was in his eyes too.

"What about Sweets?"

"No... Definitely not Sweets. Some of these hallucinations were absolutely 'R' rated. I need to know..."

She smiled back at him with a droll look.

"Seeley, they weren't all hallucinations." He met her eyes again, and they sparkled.

"I'm kind of glad to hear that because that was some of my best work..."

Temperance and Seeley grinned at each other, and Doctor Callaway smiled to himself. It had all worked out.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

She spent that first night with him, curled up beside him on the small hospital bed. The nurses worked around her, when they had to; they were happy to see her so happy. There had too many tears shed in the last little while. She woke before the man in the bed beside her, and just watched his rhythmic breathing, until he woke himself. Their eyes met.

"Dream or real?" He asked her.

"Real." She replied and was rewarded with a long, slow kiss from her partner. It was so good to see him awake again.

She told him that she had to go to work, she had appointments that morning, his miraculous awakening did not cancel the rest of her life, but she could be back this afternoon. He laughed at that. He asked her again about Doctor Wyatt, and she promised him that she would track him down, if it would help ease his mind. He told her it would. Greatly.

At the Jeffersonian, everyone instantly noticed that there was lightness in her step, and it wasn't long before Angela found her in her office, as she was looking for Doctor Wyatt's phone number.

"What's up? Is it Booth?" The artist noticed the smile on her friends face before she said anything.

"Yes, He woke up last night." The smile on her face could have melted icebergs. "He seems fine, though he's still a little tired and weak. That's to be expected, but I'm sure his strength will return quickly now."

Angela went to her and hugged her.

"Sweetie, I'm so happy for you. How are you feeling?" She scanned her friend's face for any sign that she was going to panic, and backtrack to before she had admitted her true feelings for the man. There was none.

"I'm relieved, of course." Brennan wondered what her friend could mean.

"Good."

Xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxo

It took her most of the morning to establish the where-abouts of the esteemed Doctor Wyatt. It turned out he was no longer practicing psychology, but he would be willing to meet with Agent Booth as soon as he could. He asked about him, and Brennan filled him in on most of the events over the last two years, especially the events of the last months. He agreed to meet the next day, at the hospital, and he asked that Brennan be there also. She was intrigued.

He found them together the next day in the hospital; they were sitting on the chairs in Booth's room, holding hands, looking at each other with loving eyes. He smiled immediately. He had foreseen this.

"Gordon, Gordon, It's good to see you!" Booth tried to stand up to shake his hand, but found that his legs were still quite weak. He smiled apologetically, but the tall man gestured for him to stay seated.

"It's good to see you looking well Agent Booth," His accent flowed off his tongue, "Doctor Brennan, thank you for being here."

He took the third chair in the room, and they began the first of many sessions that would carry them through the next weeks.

Booth had been terrified that his hallucinations were a sign that he was losing his mind. He told them about every one of them, from the elephant walking down the street, to the cartoon characters flitting around his head. He had been scared that his admittance of his true feelings for Temperance was all in his head. She confirmed that they were not, and the feelings were more than reciprocated.

Doctor Wyatt watched their interaction, and was pleased by the progress. They had admitted their darkest secrets to each other in front of him, and were willing to continue to meet with him. He was happy to do it. This couple had him fascinated. They should not function well together, but they did. He wanted to watch their further progress as he suspected there was something that Doctor Brennan was not telling Agent Booth. He would like to see how it played out.

After one particularly heated session, he left them to make up on their own, and as he left the room, he caught out of the corner of his eye that they were already in each other's arms. He smiled. He met Doctor Callaway in the hallway, who informed him that they were ready to discharge Agent Booth this afternoon. Doctor Wyatt winked at his medical counterpart and said;

"I would give them a minute."

Booth was thrilled by the news that he could go home. He had hoped for days, but the Doctor wanted to observe him for a little while longer. He seemed to be recovering nicely, and they were all optimistic that he would suffer from no long term consequences of his injury. Brennan waited in hall while he got dressed. His movements were still a little sluggish, but with the physiotherapy he had promised to attend, he was sure that the disability would better itself in time. He could think of some wonderful physiotherapy that involved two people. He smiled to himself as he tied his shoes.

They spent that entire night reacquainting themselves with other physically at her apartment. Brennan let him take the reigns, not literally, and guide their love making to where he was able to handle it. He still had some weaknesses, but they didn't prove to get in the way too much. It lasted all night, and through the morning. By noon they lay in each other's arms, her head on his chest, his fingers playing with her hair. Eventually she looked up at him, wondering what he was thinking. He just smiled warmly at her and said what was becoming a common turn of phrase for him,

"Dream or real? She smiled back at him and said,

"Dreamy, but very, very, real." They kissed again.

"What do you want to do today Booth?" She had a funny look in her eye as she asked, but he was not taking the bait,

"Nice try Bones, but there is something I would like to do today? Will you come with me?"

"Of course." She was curious.

An hour later they stood by Jared's grave. They had their arms around each other's waist, and just stared at the headstone. Eventually, she thought she sensed that he wanted to be alone, but as she tried to leave him, he only held her tighter. They stood in silence a while longer before she asked,

"What are you thinking about?" She kissed his chin and rested her head on his shoulder. He sighed and then continued,

"I was just thinking about my brother, and how he was never married. He had no kids. He had no legacy. In fifty years there will be no one who even remembered that he existed. Just this piece of stone with his name on it. I was just thinking about what you said that night, about how it would be nice to have a child, a piece of you left on this earth when you depart, and well, I have Parker, but you don't have anyone. It might be nice to have a baby with you Bones, a piece of both of us to carry on, you know." He was looking in her eyes now; he thought he saw something flick across her emotions.

"I'm really glad to hear you say that Seeley." She stepped back from him and smiled.

"Why?"

She didn't answer with words; she just took his hand and placed in on her abdomen. It took less than a minute for realization to dawn on him. He smiled.

The end (?)


	12. What they both wanted but couldn't say

A/N:

_Hi. There's something I have to be honest about,... when I wrote the story 'Continuation', I had every intention of making it a dream or a very vivid hallucination, but as time passed, I had so much fun writing it, that I kept going with it, but I always considered this to be the true story in my head. So... here I go with this one again, and maybe we could just consider 'continuation', like an alternate scenario. Not a dream. A dream sequence is a total cop out right? It's like getting a second chance to make things right. This is the joy of fiction, one is only limited by one's imagination! Hope this one is as enjoyable for you all._

_Thanks for reading._

_XXOO_

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Booth just stood there smiling, shocked,surprised, but, most importantly, overjoyed. He looked at her and saw the happiness in her eyes. It was not feigned, or forced. There was just a look of love and joy on her face. He desperately wanted to kiss her, and only took a moment to remember that he could now. The years of hiding his feelings were behind them.

He removed his hand from her abdomen, and gently swept her hair back behind her ear and leaned towards her. She did the same. He kissed her until their lips were raw and they were only forced to stop because of the basic human need to breathe.

"Are you sure about this Temperance?" His hand went back to her abdomen. His eyes went back to hers.

"Well, I've taken a home test, actually three of them, and they claim to be very accurate, but I haven't seen a doctor yet. I am very sure that I am pregnant though. I just feel different."

"How do you feel?" He really needed to know.

"I have been a little nauseous the last few mornings... and my sense of smell seems to have been heightened, but it's never been proven if that's a symptom of early pregnancy, though it becomes common by the third trimester."

"That's not exactly what I meant, Bones. I mean are you happy about this?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they made their way back to her car. "How long have you known?"

"I suspected about a week ago. The night you woke up I took the first test. At first I was shocked, and scared. I wasn't sure if this was something that I really wanted, but there's nothing like a healthy dose of reality to make you realize that you want something that you never knew you were missing." She smiled at him and their eyes sparkled at each other.

The conversation continued as she drove them towards the diner. She didn't know about him, but she was starving. She drove quickly and more than once he casually looked over to the speedometer.

"Slow down Bones, they're not going to run out of food you know." She gave him a sideways look that made him hesitate with his next comment before it left his lips. He just smiled to himself. "I mean, I am still recovering from major brain surgery, I don't really need another bump on the head!"

"Booth, I've told you before that I am a very good driver." She smiled at him as she changed lanes, weaving through traffic like a rally car driver. He could no longer watch the road, so he watched her.

"You're very good at everything Bones. You're going to be a wonderful mother... Thank you."

She glanced quickly at him again.

"For what?"

"For letting me be the Father to your child. I'll be there for you both forever. I just want you to know that."

"Booth, it's not like I let it happen, we weren't exactly being careful in those few days we were together."

Her voice cracked when she spoke. A solitary tear ran down her cheek. So many emotions had played themselves out since those days.

He wiped the tear away and reached for her hand. He comforted her, not knowing how she had handled it all in the last month. He knew his grandfather had been there for her. His grandfather who continued to be there for him as well. He couldn't wait to tell the old man about the baby. An interesting thought crossed his mind, and he shared it with the woman driving.

"Are we going to tell people right away, or keep it a secret?"

She glanced at him quickly again, traffic had slowed, and she was getting impatient.

"Traditionally, in a lot of cultures, most women wait until they feel the quickening, so that it is absolutely positive that the fetus is viable before they tell anybody."

"How long does that take?"

"Usually by twenty weeks, the fetus makes it's presence known."

Seeley did the quick math in his head.

"That's like five months. You really think we can keep this to ourselves for five months."

"It's actually only four months; I'm already one month pregnant."

"Still... four months? People are going to notice. You work with some very intelligent people you know. So, are we going to keep this to ourselves or not?"

"Let's keep it to ourselves for as long as we can. You know when the news gets out; everyone is going to know everything what happens, when it happens, so let's just enjoy it for now. Just you and I."

He leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, but she was swerving into another lane again and he missed. She turned her head back towards him and the kiss that was intended for her cheek landed squarely on her lips. They both laughed.

She pulled up outside the diner and they went inside, holding hands. The partners sat in their usual spot, he ordered his usual pie and coffee, she ordered a salad and coffee, but at the last second, something crossed her mind and she switched to decaf coffee. He smiled at her. The next months were going to be interesting.

"So, Booth, I never asked you... how do you feel about being a father again? It is as unexpected for you as it was for me."

He pondered his answer for awhile; he could never tell her that he had hoped for this. He had known her for so long, that he was quite aware of her natural cycles, and when they had finally made love, he had known the time could be right. In the heat of the moment, the question of protection hadn't come up. He hadn't imagined it would only take a few tries, but he thought that having a baby with her would ensure that he would be a part of her life forever. A piece of him would always be with her. He knew she could never know this.

"I'm thrilled Bones. I'm just so happy it's with you this time. This is going to be one very well-loved child."

"I am happy to hear you say that Booth. I know that you are a wonderful father to Parker, and I am hopeful that you will be to this one too."

She could never tell him that she had been considering having a child for months. She had wanted to ask him to donate his DNA, but wasn't sure if he would agree and had not found the right process or opening to approach him with her question. When Jared had died, and they had expressed their feelings physically for the first time, she knew the timing could be right. The question of protection hadn't come up in the heat of the passion, and she didn't think about it again until she woke up feeling funny one morning. Booth's brain surgery and subsequent coma had dominated her thoughts for the weeks after their first nights together. Her discovery of her pregnancy had been shocking. She reassured herself that Booth would always want to be a part of any of his children's lives, and if she were the mother of his child, he would always be a part of her life.

Whether he loved her or not had seemed irrelevant at the time, but now that he had proven that he did, she was starting to feel better about the situation. They were both happy about the baby. Neither one of them would ever reveal their secret to the other.

They had known themselves for so long of their true feelings, but were reluctant to speak them out loud to the other. Neither knew they both felt the same way, until circumstances had forced them to acknowledge the truth. Now, another circumstance cemented their relationship. Likely forever. They were both thrilled.

They smiled at each other from across the table. The waitress who had served them for so many years, noticed the difference in the way they spoke, the way they looked at each other, and wondered if after all this time, these two had finally hooked-up. She feverently hoped so. They seemed so perfect for each other. She loved watching these two, though she didn't know who they were other than them being regular customers at the diner. He was a great tipper, she was less so. She nodded to herself, her suspicions confirmed, when he reached his hand across the table, and she put hers in his. She could see their eyes sparkling from where she stood behind the counter. The waitress thought to herself, damn, another fine one off the market. She smiled at them as she refilled their coffee cups. They didn't seem to be in as much of a hurry today as they sometime were.

Brennan finished her second cup of decaf coffee and looked at Booth. She noticed he was looking tired and a little pale. He still wasn't fully recovered and she felt guilty that she had kept him up so late last night. He didn't seem to mind, but when she asked him if he wanted to go, he immediately said yes, and he took her arm for support as they walked back to the car.

On the way back to her place the conversation was quiet.

"Are you okay Booth? Are you having any regrets?" She would rather know now, than months down the road. Despite all that had transpired, her history of heartbreak had not been expelled from her mind entirely. She would rather not risk having her heart broken this time. Everything was at stake.

"I'm just tired Temperance. I don't ever want you to ask me if I'm having regrets because I never will."

"I thought you say never say never." She looked at him quickly.

"I'm willing to make an exception in this case. I will never leave you or our child. I promised you once before that I would not betray you, and I make that promise to you again right now." She looked at him again and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Her heart melted just a little bit more.

She was confident for the first time in a while that everything was going to be alright. They arrived at her apartment and she noticed how slowly he was moving as they made their way upstairs and to her front door. She helped him to the bed and he lay down gratefully. She lay down beside him and let him hold her close until his breathing was slow and regular, until he had fallen asleep.

She got out of bed, went into the living room and sat down on the couch; her computer on her lap. She took one more look down the hall towards where he was fast asleep in her bed and typed her search request into the search engine.

"Baby names"

She figured it was never too early to start looking and making plans for the arrival of their future progeny. She smiled as she tapped on the keyboard.

Everything was going to work out.

TBC....


	13. Burned

Chapter Thirteen:

Booth woke up to an empty bed. He reached his hand over to her side, it was still warm, but she was gone. He listened for any sounds of her, and his hearing centered on the bathroom and the unmistakable sounds of retching coming from behind the closed door.

He couldn't help but feel just a little responsible for her situation. He crept slowly to the bathroom door, he felt very stiff and sore this morning, and knocked gently.

"Bones? Are you okay in there?" He waited as he heard the toilet flush, and then slowly opened the door.

She was still leaned over the bowl, but she turned her head slightly towards him and tried to smile. She was so pale, and her eyes were red and swollen from the effort. His heart went out to her. He sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed her back while she struggled with another round of the morning sickness.

When the worst seemed to be over, he helped her up and he went to the kitchen to brew her some tea, while she brushed her teeth. She met him in the kitchen as the water boiled and she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

"How are you feeling now?"

She sighed deeply.

"Terrible. Of all the books I've read so far, not one of them accurately portray the misery that is morning sickness. I don't know how women do this time and time again."

"Well, you can't believe everything you read. Those books tend to generalize basic symptoms but I think it's different for every woman. Rebecca had almost no morning sickness with Parker at all. Just remember, that the second you hold that little baby for the first time, every minute of suffering will be forgotten. It's worth it Bones. You'll see. It's all worth it." He hugged her and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I hope so Booth." They both watched the kettle boil and when it started to squeal, he pulled it off the stove and tried to move it to the counter, but his hand went numb and it slipped from his fingers. Boiling water splashed all over the kitchen, some of it spilling on her bare feet.

He took the brunt of the splash but immediately asked her if she was alright. She looked down at her feet and saw the small blisters start to form on the top of her left foot, but her eyes went to his leg where the water had got him.

"I'm fine Booth, look at your leg... can't you feel that?" He sat down on a chair at the table and took a close look at the blistering wound. He couldn't feel it and it started to worry him. He looked up at her trying to keep his expression from revealing his concern, but her face showed enough for the both of them.

"Booth...are you okay? That looks really bad. Stay there; I'll go get the first aid kit."

She left the kitchen to head back to the bedroom and he leaned over to touch the scalding on his leg. He really couldn't feel the wound. He was concerned, but unsure of how to let her know that he was concerned. He was used to dealing with things by himself. It's what he did. He was the lone wolf. He took care of others, not the other way around.

She came back into the kitchen with a package of gauze and some ointment and knelt by his injured leg. She poked it gently, the blister was already formed, but she got no reaction from him at all. She squeezed the tube of burn ointment and applied it tenderly to the leg, but still no reaction. She looked up at him, her blue eyes showing her worry.

"Booth...you really can't feel that?"

He stared at the leg as she wrapped gauze around it and eventually met her gaze. He shook his head. He decided then, that if this relationship was going to work, he better be honest. Small secrets were one thing, but this was something more than that. He knew it wasn't good.

"No. I can't feel anything, and that should hurt like hell."

She finished with the bandage, and he leaned down and pressed the area around the burn. Nothing.

"We should go see Doctor Callaway." She sat on the chair next to him and applied a little of the ointment to her own mildly burned foot. Hers was nowhere near as bad as his, and she felt the stinging relief of the pain killing cream.

"I'll book an appointment for later today." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you Doctor Brennan." His attempt to downplay the incident to her failed and she continued to look at him with concern, and love.

"Do you promise? I can book the day off work and come with you if you want."

"I promise, Temperance. I'll go later this afternoon, and do whatever the Doctor says."

She stared at him for awhile, looking for any sign of deceit, but as usual, there was none. She stood up to return the first aid items to their proper place, but he grabbed her hand and held her there. She looked at him, waiting for him to make another move. He decided to go with the honesty route again.

"Temperance, my hand went numb for a second back there. That's why I dropped the kettle." He tried to squeeze her hand, and she felt how weak his grip was. Not the grip of a former sniper that he usually had.

"Seeley, maybe we should go now?" She continued to hold his hand, and he gripped it as tightly as he could. It seemed a little better than it had, but was still weaker than he could.

"No, I'm sure it's nothing serious. I'll go later today. I promise."

She continued to look at him, he attempted a charm smile, but she was having none of it.

"Fine, but if you feel strange, we're going to emergency right now. I'm watching you closely and if there's anything you're not telling me...I'll know." She realized her words were sharp, but she trusted his judgement of his condition, and she kissed him on the forehead in a surprisingly intimate gesture.

He smiled a little half smile at her and let go of her hand. As she walked towards the bedroom, he flexed his fingers, trying to get rid of the tingling sensation. He stood up to reach for the phone to book an appointment. He still felt no pain in his leg.

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He watched as she readied herself for the day at the Jeffersonian. She wasn't sick again, but he thought that she still looked pale. He wondered how long their secret would last. He suspected Angela would know instantly...if she didn't already. Angela would be discreet, of that he was sure, but once anyone else found out, everyone at both the Jeffersonian as well as the FBI would know. Then things would get interesting.

She left for the lab, but not before giving him a passionate good-bye kiss. He still wondered briefly if he was hallucinating all of this. Her warm lips convinced him otherwise. Her soft hair convinced him further when he ran his hand through it. When she finally pulled herself away from him, she made him promise that he would call her with whatever Doctor Callaway told him. If there was anything she should worry about. He made the promise.

Later in the afternoon, he decided to take a cab to the Doctor's office. He didn't trust his driving yet. He hadn't been cleared to drive or return to work by his doctor. The FBI had given him an extended leave of absence. They promised him his job was there for him whenever he was able to return. It had been a while since he had taken a vacation or any time off where he wasn't going anywhere, or involved in some way of protecting her on one of her adventures. Her adventures usually turned into a case they had to solve.

His thoughts strayed back to New Orleans, the trip to London and how could he forget their flight to China. That time they hadn't even made it off the plane before they had a case to solve. Good times.

He waited for the cab, and prayed that everything was all right with his brain. He didn't know how they would deal if there were any problems. He liked how he thought 'we' when he thought of what they would do. He was in this thing. He had waited too long for her to let anything like brain damage get in the way.

Before long he was waiting patiently in the Doctor's office. He didn't wait long. He was considered a high priority case. The receptionist guided him into one of the examination rooms and gave him a gown to change into. He did so without argument and waited no more than a few minutes for Doctor Callaway to make his appearance. The man walked in with Booth's file in his hand.

"Good afternoon Seeley. How are we feeling?"

Booth explained to him what had happened that morning with the boiling water. He showed the Doctor the burn on his leg and described how he hadn't felt any pain from the wound, which was now looking angry and red. There was still no sensation of pain, or any discomfort whatsoever. The Doctor seemed interested by this, and more so when Booth went on to tell about the numbness in the hand that he had tried to move the kettle with.

Doctor Callaway sent him immediately for another CAT scan. When the FBI Agent left the room to head upstairs for the scan, he called ahead to the technicians and asked them to expedite the results to him, making this everyone's priority. He severely hoped that what he suspected might be wrong was not the case. He had seen the new relationship between him and Doctor Brennan forming before his eyes during the man's incapacitation and immediately after. He knew how hard the man had fought to live after the bleed in his brain the first time, and hoped he wouldn't have to watch him go through that again.

Booth waited again in the examination room, but this time he remained in his street clothes. He figured that nothing was wrong, and it was just a precaution that he was sent so quickly for the scan. He was probably just suffering some side-effects of the invasive brain surgery that he had endured. He flexed his fingers a few times. They felt fine now. His leg, on the other hand, he knew he should be feeling some pain from the burn, and that did concern him, perhaps more than he would admit to even himself.

The Doctor came into the room carrying his laptop. He set it up on the examination table and pulled up a chair to sit next to Booth. He pulled up a screen that showed the results of Booth's most recent brain scan. He zoomed in on a small section and Booth saw fairly clearly, two white, grainy patches. He and the Doctor looked at each other. Booth's brown, expressive eyes were watery.

"Now, Seeley, this is something we were concerned about after your surgery. So far you had shown no signs of any symptoms, but it would seem things have changed. These two white patches show evidence of scar tissue from where the scope nicked a minor vessel when we did the initial surgery. We repaired the damage instantly, but there is always a chance of the scar tissue pressing on major receptors in the brain, making them ineffective." He paused to see if the man followed him. He seemed to, but his eyes showed his nervousness.

"What can we do about it?" Booth asked him, his voice cracking just a little bit.

"Well, here are the options...We can go in and operate and try to remove the scar tissue, but another surgery so close to your last one increases the chances of complications dramatically. We would want to wait until you are just a little stronger to go ahead with that option, and we also have to make sure that burn on your leg doesn't get infected. That could definitely complicate things."

"What's my other option?"

"We do nothing and this is as good as you ever get in terms of your recovery. You know this would mean that you could never return to field work. You could never be cleared to return to work with the FBI." Doctor Callaway watched the man's face drop as he realized his limited options meant one extreme or another.

"What are the chances of success with the surgery?" Booth fidgeted his hands in his lap.

"I would put it at around eighty percent success, but you should know, the complications that could occur are severe. If something goes wrong, it could really go wrong. You could have a stroke and end up paralyzed or in a vegetative state."

"Wow. That is extreme." He paused for awhile, considering his options. "How long do I have to decide?"

"I'll write you a prescription for some antibiotics to make sure your leg is okay, and we'll give it about a week to make sure there is no infection. We can proceed then, it that is your wish."

Seeley waited while the man wrote him a prescription and handed it to him. The Doctor accompanied the man as far as the reception desk to book another appointment for one week's time. Callaway patted the man on the back and suggested he go home and discuss his options with Doctor Brennan. She would help him with his decision.

Booth sat quietly in the back of the cab on his way back to her place. He had no idea how to decide what to do. He could go ahead with the surgery and risk brain damage, or worse; or he could do nothing and not be able to return to his job. The only thing he knew how to do. How else could his talents help the world?

He let himself into her apartment and sat on the couch, still in his coat. He felt a little tired, but decided against a nap. He had thinking to do. While he still could. His phone rang from his pocket. He glanced quickly at the caller ID and saw her name flashing.

"Hi Temperance. How are you?" He answered, buying himself another minute to decide what to tell her.

She answered him with as few words as possible to describe her day so far. Uneventful. Their secret was safe so far. She was more interested in his day.

"Can you come home? There's something we need to discuss..."

She said she was on her way.

*

*

TBC...soon(ish)! ;)


	14. It's all in his head

Chapter Fourteen:

Booth remained sitting on the couch, pondering the decision that lay before him. Or them. He wasn't sure how deep she was into this, he hoped she was in as deep as he was... but he had to admit, she could turn and run at any time. She had done it before. Whenever anyone got to close to her, she bolted. He had tried to be there for her always, but no one could predict what she would compartmentalize and what she wouldn't. She was an enigma. And that's why he loved her.

Now... she was having his child. That gave her some say in the situation. In his opinion, it gave her a lot of say in the situation. He had no idea how she would react to the news. Though she had deeply expressed her true feelings to him, he still wondered what would go on in her head when she found out he could no longer be the man she had fallen in love with.

While he waited for her to arrive home, he made the decision not to tell her about the surgery option. The risks of something going wrong were too great for him. He wasn't the gambling man he once was. He had too much to lose at this point. He would rather be there for her and their child in his present form, than risk the chance of being debilitated for the rest of his life. More so. A little numbness in his hand and leg were a small price to pay to ensure that his brain was mostly functional. His career was a small price to pay for her and the baby. He could find some other way to make himself useful to society. Another way to make himself useful to her if he could no longer be her protector.

He heard the key turn in the front door and he braced himself to lie to her. His heart was breaking to have to do it, but he could see no other option. He was determined to spare her the decision of whether or not to risk his life.

She walked in, dropped her bag by the door and immediately went to him. She sat beside him on the couch and he reached over to take her hand.

"What did the Doctor say Seeley? What's wrong?" Her blue eyes bore into him and his heart skipped a beat.

"Well, they did another CAT scan, and it turns out that there is some scar tissue pressing on some nerve receptors in my brain. It's causing the numbness in my leg and likely my hand too. There's nothing they can do..." As strong as he tried to be, his voice broke when he said it.

She stared at him, trying to read the expression on his face. He was hiding something, she was sure of it. She wasn't good at reading the subtle facial expressions of most people, but she could read him. After four years of being partners, friends, and now, lovers, she knew this man, and something was not right. She assumed that he was protecting her in some way. She tested the waters,

"Can't they operate?" She watched a slight flicker in his eyes when she asked him that. That's what he was failing to mention to her.

He stared at her now. He wanted to lie, and in his head, before she had arrived home, before she was sitting only feet away from him, it had seemed like such an easy decision to make. Now, he was lost in the depth of her concern for him and he could not deceive her. He could not manipulate her into thinking that he was forced to remain in his current state for the rest of his life. He sighed.

"There is a surgery option Temperance, but Doctor Callaway warned me that the risk of complication is high. Well, the risk of complications isn't high, but if anything does go wrong, it could go very wrong... I could have a stroke, or bleed out. I could die." The words spilled out before he could have another chance to question whether or not to tell her.

She squeezed his hand as she tried to rationalize what he had just told her. He went on to explain the eighty percent chance of success, and her eyes lit up at those numbers.

"Eighty percent? Booth, those are good odds. If you have the surgery, one could make a reasonable judgement that everything will be just fine. Statistically, the outcome would be in your favour."

"Yeah, but is it worth the risk? There's a twenty percent chance of something going very, very wrong. It's not worth it. I want to be there for you and the baby. I want to see Parker and this baby grow up." He placed his hand gently on her still-flat abdomen for just a second. "If I don't have the surgery, the only thing I am risking is my career."

She leaned back on the couch, trying to grasp everything he was telling her. His job with the FBI meant so much to him; he was willing to give it up to make sure he could around to be a father to their child. She was just a little touched. She squeezed his hand again, and he squeezed back, but she noticed the weakness in the grip. She did not envy his decision. She looked him in the eye again.

"What do you think?" His brown eyes stayed locked on her blues.

"It's ultimately your decision Booth, but if my opinion means anything..." He cut her off there,

"Your opinion means everything to me Tempe. You mean everything to me." He had tears in his eyes; he still had to convince her that his words were true.

"Well, Booth, I think you should go ahead with the surgery. You are a strong, vibrant, physically fortunate human being and I think that you are overlooking how important your life with the FBI is to you. Eighty percent chance is a very high success rate. I think that those odds are worth the risks. I mean, it's not like this baby and I can't live without you."

She stopped speaking when she saw the shocked look on his face at her choice of words. He pulled his hand away from hers and broke their eye contact. She suddenly caught on to what she had said, and turned on the couch so that she was facing him. She held his knee, stopping him from getting up, as he was trying to do just that.

"Booth, I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant... what I meant was, there is no reason to worry about the baby and I. We would survive if something happened to you. My words came out wrong, we may not need you, but I really, really want you in my life. For as long as I can have you. I also want you to be the best man that you can be. The man I know you are. You are Agent Booth, what else could you be?"

He smiled then at her. Not her best apology, but by no means her worst. He could see in her eyes that she was sincere, even though her words had been slightly misconstrued. He was glad to hear her explanation. She wanted him. It was nice to hear her say it.

"I could join Doctor Wyatt at culinary school. You know, be a chef!" His teasing lightened the mood considerably, and she shook her head at him, but smiled back.

"I don't think that is an appropriate outlet for your talents Booth. But speaking of culinary, what's for dinner? I'm starving." She took hold of his hand again, and massaged his fingers in her own. "We can discuss this more later. After."

He looked confused.

"After what?"

"After I finish saying I'm sorry for what I said...I really didn't mean it the way it came out."

With that she pushed his shoulder back gently, until he was lying down on the couch as she kissed him with as much apology as she could muster. She was very sorry, and eventually he forgave her with every fibre of his existence.

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A week passed and Booth had decided that for now, he would not go ahead with the surgery. Temperance respected his decision, but thought to herself that he would benefit greatly from the operation. She had watched him slip a little further into depression every day and she wondered how the next months would play out. He missed his job. She had told him that there was no hurry for any decisions regarding the rest of his working life.

Every night when she came home, he asked for every little detail of the case that she and the squints were working on. He was bored. His recovery from the initial surgery seemed to be levelling off and he was mobile and feeling better. The only exception was the burn on his leg that seemed to be healing perfectly, but he still had no sensation of it. It creeped him out just a little bit. The antibiotics had prevented any infection and the open wound was almost healed enough to go on with the surgery. If he chose to do so.

He sat on the couch one morning. The day before his appointment with Doctor Callaway. He had just sent her off to work and was reading the newspaper to kill time. He seemed to have enough of that on his hands lately. It had only been a week, how was he supposed to live the rest of his life like that? He had just gotten the courage to start reading the classified ads when his phone rang from the coffee table in front of him. He answered with his usual, "Booth."

It was Doctor Wyatt calling to ask him if he would be interested in a cup of coffee. Perhaps at that delightful little diner that he and Temperance had introduced him to? Booth immediately agreed. He asked if Gordon, Gordon would mind picking him up. He did not.

An hour after the phone call, the two men sat at the counter at the diner, each with a cup of coffee in their hands. The conversation centred on his recovery, and Booth felt obligated to fill the former psychiatrist in on the happenings with his head. The older man seemed interested in Booth's decision not to have the slightly risky surgery.

"You know Agent Booth, the chance of one of the complications being severe enough to actually cause your death are quite miniscule. It would seem to me, that you are afraid. Of what exactly, I haven't actually figured out yet. But I think I am close."

"You know what Gordon, why don't you call me Seeley from now on. I'm not going to be Agent Booth for very much longer." He sipped his coffee. Doctor Wyatt watched the man after he said those words. He seemed sad.

"I'm honoured Seeley, I know you don't let many people call you that. You can still call me Doctor Wyatt though." The men's eyes met. Booth had a little smile. "Do you know why?"

Booth shook his head, unsure of where this was going.

"Because even though I am no longer practicing psychiatry, that doesn't change who I am. I am still a Doctor. I have just chosen another path to follow. You are Special Agent Booth. It's not what you do, it's who you are. You cannot change your conscience, or your empathy towards those who need help. Those traits are what make up your being." He paused while both men took a sip of their hot drinks.

His words seemed to be sinking in.

"And do you know something else Agent Booth?"

"What's that Gordon-Gordon?" Booth had a cocky smile now.

"I think that you are focusing entirely too much on the negative. There is a sporting chance that the surgery could be completely successful and you could be your old self again."

The two sat in silence for a while. Booth finally broke it.

"It's about more than just me now. I have to think of the future." He didn't mention the baby yet. He wasn't sure if Bones would want their secret out. Even to their mutual friend who sat beside him.

"You mean Doctor Brennan?" The waitress stopped by and filled their cups again.

"Yeah."

"What's this about Doctor Brennan?" A third voice joined their conversation from behind, and both of them turned to look at the lady herself, and Angela, who had walked in behind her friend. Bones kissed him on the cheek. He smiled warmly at her.

"Bones! What are you doing here?"

"Angela and I just came for some lunch." She leaned close to his ear to whisper her next words. "I was starving!"

"Hey Ange." Booth acknowledged the artist as she sat on a stool beside them.

Doctor Wyatt said hello to the ladies. They both responded politely. The tall British man nodded at Brennan in a secret sign that her plan was working. She had called him the day before to see if he could talk some sense into her partner. She knew Booth would listen to Doctor Wyatt. He had always made note of his respect for the man. So had she.

Temperance went to hang her coat on the coat rack near the door and as she did, a masked man came in through the door with the intention of robbing the small diner. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Before any of the group had caught on to what was going on, the masked man pushed Temperance out of the way and she tumbled to the floor.

Booth was at her side in two leaps, helping her up, asking her if she was okay. He asked her out loud,

"Is the baby okay? Do you feel anything?"

Angela and Doctor Wyatt were definitely in earshot and they both stood there, open-mouthed, while Booth helped his partner fully to her feet.

The man in the mask had gotten spooked when Booth flew towards him, and was trying to get back out the same door he had just entered. Booth looked at Bones and she held his arm briefly.

"I'm fine Booth. I think I'm fine...are you going to get that guy?" He made sure she really did seem fine, and he turned and ran out the door after the would-be robber.

Bones turned back to the other two standing behind her. Both were still in shock over what they had over-heard. Angela finally found her voice.

"Sweetie, was that robber part of the plan?" Brennan shook her head. That was not at all part of the plan, just a very strange coincidence.

Angela then pointed to her best friend's stomach with a questioning smile.

"Was that part of the plan?" Brennan just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She brushed some of the dust off of her pants from where she had hit the floor.

"I knew there was something more to Seeley's decision than he was letting on. That explains his hesitation to go ahead with the operation." Doctor Wyatt was happy that he finally had the missing piece of information about the couple. And he was very happy for them. He told her so.

She very politely accepted his thanks and accepted a hug from Angela. She looked back to the tall man.

"Do you think he is going to have the surgery?" Her eyes showed three different emotions.

"What do you think?" He pointed out the window to where Agent Booth was passing off the detained criminal to a local cop. When the bandit was safely in the back of the car, Booth turned back towards the diner and all three of them saw the smile on his face. It lit the whole diner. Even from outside. His eyes were only for her though.

Doctor Wyatt rubbed her back, with the confidence that their secret mission to convince Booth had worked.

*

*

TBC.


	15. What?

Chapter Fifteen:

Brennan and Booth sat outside the office of Doctor Callaway waiting for his appointment. The waiting room was full when they got there, but they only sat for a moment before they were called into the inner office of the Doctor. He held her hand tightly the whole time and she held his hand to calm his nerves. She couldn't ever remember him being so nervous. She assured him constantly that everything was going to be just fine.

They sat across the desk from the Doctor when he joined them in his office, and Booth explained that he was ready to go ahead with the surgery. Doctor Callaway told him that the OR had already been booked for the following day, and the only thing delaying the procedure was the passing of a basic physical by the FBI Agent.

Booth went for the quick examination and the only thing anomalous was a slight increase in blood pressure from his last visit. It was not enough of a change to delay anything so the surgery was officially booked for the following day.

The partners went back to her place after the appointment and found themselves sitting on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, shoulders touching slightly. They just sat. At one point, he reached over and grabbed her hand, just to hold something of hers. To convince himself that she was there for him.

"Everything is going to be just fine Booth. The surgery will fix everything and you'll be your old self before long. It will be fine." Her eyes showed him just how convinced she was of this.

"There's something I want you to know...in case something does go wrong." She was about to argue with him, but he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently, distracting her from the argument. It worked. "I wrote you a letter once, just a note with some thoughts of mine about, I don't know, my feelings about you and things about life. Just how I feel about certain stuff."

She seemed confused.

"What more do you want me to know? I know everything about you Booth."

"Not everything Tempe. I do want you to know that I love with you with all my heart, and no matter what, I'll always be there for you in some form or another." He had tears in his eyes when he told her that. So did she.

"I know you do Booth, I've always known. Let's not talk about what might be, let's focus on what is. What we can see and feel in front of us right now." She leaned towards him, wanting to take his mind off of any morbid delusions that he would not be just fine.

"My Grandfather has the letter. I gave it to him to hold onto for me, to give to you if anything ever happened. Just ask him for it..." His sentence was cut off by her lips crashing into his.

All of their years of unspoken passion for each other seemed to force its way out in the next hours. They struggled on the couch for awhile, and eventually he realized he needed more room to show her just how deeply he loved her, and picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. The first half of the night involved some of the most tender, passionate love making the two of them had ever experienced.

When it was over, Booth just held her in his arms while she slept. He watched her breathe in and breathe out, and smiled at her flickering eyelids, wondering what she could be dreaming about. He wondered if the dreams of a genius mind were more intense than the dreams of more common people. He figured he would never know.

He was still awake when dawn broke through the window of her bedroom. He didn't want to waste a single moment of what could possibly be his last night a fully functioning human being. If the surgery went badly and he was damaged in some way, he wanted her to remember this night.

As the sun crept closer to the bed, he started to gently kiss her shoulder, which lay naked before him. His kisses trailed down her arm and as he shifted a little to get better access to the rest of her, she suddenly woke up and sat up. She looked at him, but her eyes still seemed to be asleep. As they focused, she became aware of something else. An overwhelming feeling of bile rising in her throat.

"Booth, I'm sorry..." She ran for the bathroom, the morning sickness had struck again.

He just smiled and eventually followed her into the bathroom to be of whatever comfort he could. He rubbed her back as she threw up. At one point, during a pause in her efforts, she looked over to him, pale and shaky, and said to him,

"You know I also love you with all my heart, right? I know I don't say it very often, but it is how I feel."

"I know, Temperance. I've always known." He smiled a cocky little smile at her, and she fought with another round of the nausea.

As quickly as it had arrived, the morning sickness was gone and she brushed her teeth while he waited for her. She made him laugh when she turned to him and asked him what was for breakfast, she was starving. She always amazed him. He hoped she always would.

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They arrived at the hospital with plenty of time for him to start to get nervous. She did her best to keep him calm with gentle touches and light kisses while the nurses prepared him for the surgery.

The time came eventually for him to be wheeled away, and she walked beside him, holding his hand as they made their way down the halls and towards the operating room. Right before he was wheeled beyond the point that she could accompany him, he asked the nurses to wait just a second.

They just looked at each other. There was nothing left unsaid between them now. Their feelings had been spoken and expressed physically. He smiled at her, his brown eyes as expressive as she had ever seen them.

"I want you to promise me something Tempe..."

She waited for him to continue.

"If something does go wrong... I don't want you to name the baby after me. I really hate my name."

In spite of herself, she laughed out loud.

"I promise Booth. You are going to be just fine. I'll see you in recovery in just a few hours. I love you Booth." A tear streamed down her cheek and he reached to her to wipe it away.

The nurse continued to wheel him through the door and another tear fell as she watched him go. She wandered back to the waiting room to wait out the longest hours of her life. So it seemed anyway.

Hours passed and she started to grow just a little concerned that there was no news of him yet. The Doctor had told them that the surgery would only take a few hours, but more time than that had passed when she finally saw the Doctor come through the doors to search for her.

He took her by the hand and guided her to a deserted spot in the hallway. She was definitely nervous now.

"Doctor Brennan... I just want you to know that the surgery was successful... We managed to remove both of the pieces of scar tissue with no problem, but..." He paused.

"What's wrong? What happened?" She was officially worried at his pause.

"I'm afraid Agent Booth had an adverse reaction to the anaesthetic and he doesn't seem to be waking up in the recovery room. We thought that maybe you would like to sit with him, your voice and presence might bring him back a little quicker." Doctor Callaway's heart broke a little bit at the expression on her face.

He remembered back to the last time Booth had been in a coma and her dedication and belief that he would come out of it just fine. The unconscious man needed her again.

He led her towards the ICU and pointed her in the direction of the man she was with heart and soul. Doctor Callaway was not ignorant to the feelings of the partners, he hoped more than anything that Agent Booth would wake up soon.

He did not.

A week passed, and Temperance barely left his side. The nurses became aware after the first morning that she was there that she was pregnant by her morning sickness, and they made sure she was eating and drinking, at some points getting enough rest. They took very good care of her while she waited out her vigil.

All of the people who knew and loved Booth stopped by over the ensuing days to hope for the best with her. Angela was there regularily and when Brennan didn't seem to respond to anyone anymore, she made the bold move to call in the big gun.

Booth's grandfather surprised her one morning with a tap on the shoulder, and when she turned her head to see who it was she jumped up and gave the older Booth a huge hug. Angela, who had accompanied the older man into the room, left quietly when she saw the emotional outburst of her friend. Angela thought it was good to see her release some of the repressed emotion.

Booth's grandfather had waited with her before in this situation. It wasn't all that long ago, and those emotions were still very fresh for both of them. At least this time, Booth wasn't fighting for his life, he simply wasn't waking up.

Temperance took up her usual spot beside her partner's bed and took his hand. The grandfather sat on the opposite side of the bed and watched the woman who was watching his grandson.

"You should have called me, Temperance. I would have come. You don't need to go through this by yourself." His brown eyes that were so much like his grandson's, made her heart tweak just a little bit.

"I'm sorry. I should have called you, but you should know I'm not used to having family as a support mechanism. This is very new to me." Her eyes never left her partner's face when she spoke.

"Well, you are part of this family now. I hope you know that."

She felt like she should share something with him then.

"Your family is about to get just a little bigger in about seven and a half months." She couldn't help but smile at the shocked expression on the older Booth's face.

He stood up to walk around the foot of the bed to give her a hug.

"That is wonderful news! You both must be so happy! I know Seeley is a wonderful father, and he must be thrilled about this new baby."

"He was. Very thrilled."

The grandfather noticed her use of past tense when she spoke of him. He put his hand on her shoulder, and made her look him in the eye.

"He still is thrilled. He'll be back for you. There's no way he would abandon his child and the love of his life. Nothing will keep him away for very long."

They both looked towards the unconscious man in the bed and they both saw him stir at the same time.

Bones moved quickly to be near his face, and watched as he struggled to open his eyes. His vision cleared slowly and focus came to the brown gates of his soul. She smiled at him and he blinked twice.

"Booth, you've been in a coma. You had a reaction. You're going to be just fine now."

Booth just looked at her, his bandaged head turned towards the other man in the room, but there was no sparkle in his eyes like there so often was. He turned back to Brennan,

"Who are you?"

Her heart broke into a thousand little pieces with his words.

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	16. The End or the Beginning

Chapter Sixteen:

Bones just stared at her partner. She refused to believe the words he had just spoken. After everything they had been through, how could this happen? How could something like this have been the one thing to go wrong? It wasn't the worst thing, he was still alive after all, but it was the most unexpected. Her heart was shattered. In the moments after he spoke the words, she wanted to turn and run. Bury herself in some distraction and let him go on with his life. She could adapt. She could compartmentalize. He would never know.

Except now there was a child to think of. It wouldn't be fair to him to deny him the knowledge of the baby. The baby who had been conceived by their expression of love that had taken so long to come to be. She couldn't start over. There was no way. She didn't even know exactly when she had fallen for him because she denied the feelings to herself for so long. She had no idea what had made him fall so hard for her either. Or when it happened. She met the man's eyes again and he was still looking at her. Confusion was the only emotion she could read in them.

"Booth, you really don't know who I am?" She had to try. She looked at the grandfather for help, but he was shell-shocked. He hadn't seen this happening either. He knew his grandson better than most, and he was almost mourning for the loss of the younger man's memory. He did not envy Brennan. He was watching her heart break before his very eyes.

"I don't know... I had a dream... it seemed so real...but no, I don't know who you are. I'm so confused, why does my head hurt so much?"

Tears streamed down Brennan's face. Her whole body started to tremble as the sobs that threatened to release grew closer to the surface. The grandfather came to her and held her gently by the waist. She gripped his arm tightly.

"Do you know who I am?" The older man asked the man in the bed.

Booth tried harder to open his eyes to get a good look around him. He kept his gaze on the older man for awhile and finally said,

"You look like my grandfather, but about thirty years older than I remember." Booth's voice was still scratchy and weak. "What happened? What is going on here? Where am I?"

Brennan couldn't take anymore; she slipped from the grandfather's grasp and fled through the door. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her she leaned on the wall and let the tears flow without worrying about who saw them. Before long she felt a hand on her shoulder and she stifled the next sob to look up into the eyes of her best female friend.

"Sweetie, what the hell just happened? Is Booth okay?" Angela had never seen her friend like this. The look on her face was one of complete desperation.

"Booth is awake." The sobs started in full mode again. Angela held her tightly.

"Why are you crying then? Isn't that good news?" Brennan wasn't able to get a hold of her for a few minutes to answer the artist. Her voice finally became audible and she whispered through the tears,

"He doesn't know who I am!" Angela was as shocked as Brennan had been.

"Oh honey. I'm so sorry." The tears came from both of them now. They hugged in the hallway as Doctor Callaway approached the door to Booth's room.

"Doctor Brennan is everything okay?" The Doctor stopped to put his hand on her shoulder. She found his eyes with her own, and the Doctor saw the pain pouring out of them.

"He's awake but he seems to be suffering from some degree of Amnesia. He doesn't seem to know where he is, or who I am, but he remembers his grandfather."

She tried desperately to get a hold of herself, but so many chemicals were being released by so many different glands in her body, that she feared she was going to become hysterical. She could not recall anything like that ever happening before. She took a few deep breaths. That helped.

Doctor Callaway made the gesture that he was going in to see his patient, and Brennan nodded to him. Angela hugged her again. She was very worried for her friend. She had never seen her so close to the brink. Angela assumed that the pregnancy hormones were not helping in any way. She knew that Booth's situation was major though. They had not had to deal with anything like this before.

Temperance finally seemed to bring the worst of the sobs under control and she removed herself from her friend's embrace. Angela kept hold of her arm as she tried to walk further down the hall. Further away from him.

"Where are you going Bren?" The artist asked her friend with a firm voice. "Booth needs you right now."

"Ange, he doesn't know who I am. He doesn't want me in there. He doesn't need me." Angela saw a flicker of the old Doctor Brennan, the one before she had met Booth and he had helped her discover the love in her soul. The one who was cold, and detached.

"Yes he does. He needs you now more than ever. He might not remember you, but that doesn't change how he feels about you. He just needs to learn again. You need to show him." The artist continued to hold onto her friend's arm, as she continued to try to pull away.

"I don't know how. I don't know what to do. How do I convince him that he loves me?" The tears started again, but she stopped struggling to remove herself from Angela's grasp. The artist let go of her arm and she stayed put. For now.

"Well, I know for a fact how capable you are when it comes to learning new things. It's time to put that big brain of yours into use. How did you convince him that he loved you before?"

Brennan thought for a minute. How had she?

"I guess... I waited until the time was right and I told him how I felt. I knew he felt the same way, and things just went from there...I didn't actually plan it. It just happened."

"You convinced him by being yourself, and showing him the wonderful, compassionate, caring person that you have become. Get in there and show him that again. Don't abandon him. Don't do that to yourself. You need him too... Don't tell yourself that you don't." Angela's facial expression showed no sign of a smile. She was very serious.

Brennan stared at her friend. The showdown she was prepared for, melted back into her, and she knew that Angela was right. She had never been happier since her and Booth had officially hooked up. And then once he was out of the coma. And then once he was out of the coma again. She couldn't let the last few minutes of pain that she had experienced to eliminate the four years of tension that was finally cut by their true feelings being spoken to one another. The happiness they had felt only the week before, she remembered the night before his surgery and knew that night was worth everything. All the pain, all the agony, and in a lighter sense, all the happiness and love. She knew he was still in there somewhere; he just needed to be reminded of everything.

His situation should not have changed her feelings. She searched deep inside herself and found that to be true. Her feelings were still there, they were just momentarily pushed aside by fear. She noticed that her sobbing had stopped, and she looked at her friend.

"You're right Angela. It's my fault he's like that. I am the one who convinced him to go ahead with the surgery. I was the one who convinced him that he would be just fine. I think it might be up to me to help him now."

Angela didn't necessarily agree with her logic, but her heart seemed in the right place. Brennan no longer looked like she was going to run away, but there were still some nerves there. She reached her hand back towards the door and turned the handle. Angela saw her close her eyes and take a deep breath before she pushed the door and took a tentative step into the room. Angela could hear the Doctor talking to the Booths before the door shut.

As soon as the door shut completely she reached into her pocket to call someone who could help.

"Doctor Sweets. Hi... It's Angela. We need you to come down to the hospital; there's been a bit of a development with Booth and Brennan. We really need your expertise here...No, everyone is fine physically, but there are some mental health issues that need to be resolved quickly, before they take another downward spiral. Just come quick, and I'll explain everything to you."

The FBI Psychologist let her know he would be right there. He wondered what could have happened.

Brennan walked carefully up to the side of the bed as the Doctor gave the FBI Agent a thorough examination. The man's eyes met hers and he smiled just slightly. More out of courtesy than any sign of recognition. The grandfather approached her and met her eyes. She was reassured by his presence. He would help her with the situation. He knew more about their relationship than perhaps both of them who were diectly involved. He had been Booth's confidant in the years leading up to their affirmation of their mutual feelings. He knew everything that Booth knew about her. She whispered to him while the Doctor distracted the man on the bed.

"I might need your help here. We need to restore his memory, and you know him better than I do. Will you help me?" Her blue eyes were still tear-filled, and her eye lashes were still wet with the already spilled tears.

He wrapped a very compassionate arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"Anything you need Sweetheart. I am here for you. We're in this together...family sticks together." He managed to get just a little smile out of her. She leaned on him gratefully as the Doctor did a few more tests and asked Booth a few questions.

Doctor Callaway asked if he could have a little privacy with the recovering man and Brennan and the grandfather made their way into the hallway. Angela was still there. She eyed the anthropologist carefully, and noticed that she held the hand of Booth's grandfather. The artist felt better knowing there was still a Booth who knew how important she was. This was going to be a marathon, not a quick sprint resolution to the problem. Brennan was going to need all the help she could get.

Angela made it her prime goal at that moment to not let her friend, and the love of her life, be destroyed by the unseen circumstance that they found themselves in. Brennan had more allies than she knew. No one would let her run away now. They had all put too much effort into bringing those two together. Angela knew she could be more stubborn than her best friend when it came to this. They would all help bring Booth back to her.

After a few minutes had passed, the Doctor came back into the hall and filled them in on what he had learned. Booth had definitely suffered some damage to his long term memory. He seemed to be missing about the last fifteen years or so. Callaway wanted him to meet with a psychologist and a neurologist to determine the extent of the damage and to see what could be done to help him improve. He looked directly at Doctor Brennan when he spoke the next words.

"I am so sorry. There's no way we could have known that he would react so poorly to the anaesthetic. This risk didn't even cross our minds when we planned the surgery. I'll do whatever I can to help you two out with this."

Brennan nodded at him and told him that it wasn't his fault. No one could have predicted this. She reached her hand out to him to shake his hand. To let him know there were no hard feelings. She didn't say it out loud, but she knew exactly who was to blame. Herself.

The Doctor in charge of Booth made his way down the hall to make plans on how to deal with the turn of events, leaving the three in the hallway to discuss how to deal with the memory loss of the man they all loved.

The Grandfather said he would be willing to spend the night with his grandson and help fill him in on whatever was left blank in the man's brain. He knew the most about the lost years and he was quite capable of filling in the earliest of those years.

He promised Temperance that he would stop the stories where she had come into his life, and let her fill him in from there. He made her promise that she would go home and get a proper nights rest. She started to argue, but he reminded her that she was taking care of more than just herself now. She had to consider the baby. She agreed and Angela promised her she would spend the night at her place, to make sure she was okay.

On their way out the door they ran into Sweets. Angela had completely forgotten that she had called him there to help. He recommended they go for a cup of coffee and discuss the situation when Angela filled him on briefly on the events that had taken place in the last hours. He was stunned.

They sat around the table at the cafe in the hospital. Angela brought them all a cup of coffee and Brennan asked her if hers was decaf before she took a sip. The artist nodded with a smile. Sweets took a minute to comprehend what had just been said.

"Doctor Brennan, why are you drinking decaf? I thought you would need the caffeine jolt by now." He looked at her carefully while she tried to decide whether to tell him the truth or not.

"Because Doctor Sweets...I'm pregnant."

"Whoa. Congratulations. That changes everything doesn't it? This is a reason you can't compartmentalize this and just run away. Am I right?" He looked at her until she looked back at him.

"You're right Sweets. I can't just pretend everything that happened in the last months didn't actually happen. I can't forget certain things for the sake of convenience. Booth deserves to have the happiness we experienced even though I don't know how to duplicate it on my own. It's up to me to make things right. It's my fault this happened." Tears welled up in her eyes again and Angela rubbed her back.

"It's not your fault Sweetie. Nobody could have seen this happening. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Things that are out of our control."

A few of the tears fell down the cheeks of the woman at the centre of attention, but no new ones formed in her eyes. She nodded at Angela.

"I know that, but sometimes my brain gets in the way of my heart. I am not the most skilled at dealing with my emotions. You guys, I have no idea how to deal with this. How do I remind Booth of everything we shared together? How do I make him remember how we feel about each other?" She looked back and forth between the two of them, waiting for an answer.

Sweets was the first to reply. He had an idea that might help.

"Doctor Brennan. Why don't you go home with Angela tonight and the two of you together, compile a list of the moments in your and Booth's relationship where you sensed that things had changed. Where you sensed that something had happened to take things to the next level. When you come back tomorrow, tell Agent Booth about all those moments, and see if the sentiments spark anything in his memory. If the moments were important to you, then perhaps they were as important to him as well."

Brennan looked at him for awhile. She wasn't sure how she felt about homework from the psychologist, but she had already admitted to herself that she didn't know where to start. This seemed like somewhere. She was willing to try anything at this point. She told him how she felt.

Angela was intrigued to find out what had finally happened to change the mind of her best friend in regards to how her partnership with Booth had finally escalated. She would find out some secrets from the woman who always kept her hand very close to her chest.

The ladies stood up to leave, and thanked Sweets for his help. Brennan asked him if he would like to be there in the morning after she had compiled her list of memories. She would appreciate his help with what she had to do. He was touched that she would ask him for help after all this time.

He wondered if her pregnancy was affecting her more than anyone else thought. She seemed to be releasing the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times. She had come a long way, and Sweets desperately hoped that she would not take two steps backwards while dealing with the trauma of her partners affected memory.

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Angela and Temperance sat on her couch through the evening while the two of them discussed the events of the last four years. Brennan had her friend laughing a few times with tales of events that had been unknown by the other squints. Private moments between the partners that cemented the relationship that was inevitable.

The list compiled eventually, and after Angela brewed them some tea in the kitchen, she came back to the living room and discovered that her friend had fallen fast asleep. She covered her with a blanket and curled up on the chair beside the couch to keep an eye on her and soon fell asleep herself.

Angela woke in the morning and found that Brennan had gotten up before her. She briefly panicked when she couldn't find her, but when she heard tell-tale sounds coming from the bathroom; she knew that morning sickness was winning the fight. It seemed like Brennan was in the bathroom forever while Angela prepared some breakfast while she waited. She figured that as far as her friend had come emotionally, she still wouldn't think to eat.

The Forensic Anthropologist came into the kitchen eventually and Angela looked twice at her. She looked like hell. She was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Are you okay Sweetie... you don't look great right now."

Brennan sat down at the table and gratefully accepted the cup of tea that Angela handed to her. She sipped for awhile before she spoke.

"It would seem that this child is as much a fighter as its father. Another Booth making its presence known in the world." Brennan gave her friend a slight grin, and Angela noticed the slight warm glow on her face before it was replaced by the concern for the baby's father. "I wonder how Booth and his Grandfather fared last night. I wonder if Booth remembers anything."

"I hope so. But Bren... I just want to point out, that even if Booth never remembers what you guys had; you can always create new memories. You owe it to each other to recreate the happiness you shared." Her words seemed to sink in, and Temperance eventually replied,

"Well, I owe it to him anyway. He owes me nothing. He's already done everything for me. It's my turn to rescue him, so to speak."

Angela smiled as her friend left the kitchen to get dressed. For the first time, she felt like there was a chance that everything was going to be alright.

An hour later they were walking through the front doors of the hospital. The action was becoming redundant to Brennan. She tried to count how many times she had walked through those doors in the last few months. Far too many.

They made their way up to where Booth's room was and they saw Booth's Grandfather and Doctor Callaway talking in the hallway. They stopped talking as the ladies approached.

"How is he this morning?" Brennan asked the Doctor and the grandfather.

"We played a rousing game of 'This is your Life' until the early morning. He doesn't remember anything on his own yet, but he is aware of major events that have occurred." Temperance looked confused.

"I don't know what that means."

"Sweetie...it's an old television game show. It's not important." Angela saved the grandfather from having to elaborate on his comment.

The Grandfather looked back to the woman who his grandson was so in love with.

"I told him about you, but I didn't tell him about the baby yet. I thought that fell into your duties."

Doctor Callaway's glance went to Brennan and his eyes opened wide.

"You're pregnant?" When she nodded affirmation, he continued, "Congratulations. We'll get him back for you. We did some tests last night, and the surgery has proven to be a complete success. There is no physical reason for the amnesia, we don't have any idea what's causing it. We can only hope for improvement. It may happen on its own, and it may not. With a support group there's no reason why Agent Booth cannot go home in the next few days."

Relief and concern was on everybody's face. Brennan went for the door handle; she needed to see him now. Whether he knew who she was or not. She braced herself and opened the door. The others did not follow, giving her and her partner a chance to be alone. They had a lot to catch up on.

Temperance entered the room, not really knowing what to expect. Her eyes immediately locked onto his. He was sitting up on the bed, eating something from the food tray in front of him. All the tubes were gone from his arm, but his head was still wrapped in bandage. He smiled at her and her heart skipped a beat like it always did when he greeted her like that. She approached the bed cautiously.

"Hi." He started the conversation carefully.

His grandfather had filled him in on their relationship last night. He knew this was the woman who he had fallen completely and irrevocably in love with, but he had no recollection of any of their time together. It was eerie to know that years of his life had passed without him having any memory whatsoever of any of it. It had been a long night. He couldn't imagine how she felt.

"Hello." She answered, unsure of where to take the conversation next.

He reached out his hand to her, but she didn't reach for it. Yet.

"I have to apologize for something..."

"What could you possibly have to apologize for Booth?"

"I'm sorry that I don't remember you. It must have broken your heart yesterday to hear me say that." He grinned just a hint of the charm smile at her.

"Yes. It did. It's not your fault though. I know that it was because of the major brain surgery. There were risks." She finally reached out to his outstretched hand. When their fingers met, there was an audible snap as a shock passed between them.

They both grinned.

"Apparently there is a spark between us!" He laughed and she joined him. "I need your help to remember. Are you willing?"

"I will do whatever it takes. I will be there for you. I can fill in the blanks for you." She smiled as he kissed the top of her hand, and she sat down in the chair beside his bed, keeping her hand in his.

They began a long conversation about the years that were absent from his memory. She was brutally honest with him about events that had transpired. She started with the day that he had her detained in the airport to force her to help him with a case. He laughed,

"That sounds like something I might do."

By late morning, Sweets had joined them, as well as Angela and the Grandfather. The psychologist worked with them, but despite the fact he laughed regularly at the antics they had used to solve certain cases, it was obvious that no memories had resurfaced on his own. He only learned what the others told him. He tried to hide his frustration, but it became obvious by the afternoon. Everyone noticed that he was looking tired and they made polite excuses to leave him.

Brennan was the last one to go. She leaned over to kiss him on the forehead, and she noticed that he blushed slightly.

"There's something I need you to know..."

She let him continue.

"I think you are absolutely beautiful. Just for the record, I can see what drew me to you."

"Thank you Booth. Rest well; I'll be back later if that's okay?"

He nodded, and shifted in the bed to rest.

"Thanks Bones."

She left the room, hitting the light switch on her way.

It was hours later when something dawned on her and she gasped out loud, startling her dinner companion, Angela.

"What's wrong Bren? Is it the baby?" The artist looked slightly panicked.

"No, Ange. When I left Booth's room earlier he called me Bones. He remembered that was his name for me!" Her blue eyes looked so optimistic.

"Maybe his Grandfather told him that?"

"Maybe, but it seemed so natural that I didn't even notice it right away. It might be something right?"

Angela couldn't break her thoughts.

"It's definitely something Sweetie. He's still in there somewhere. He'll remember.

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Booth went home to his own apartment three days later with a clean bill of health. Physically anyway. His mental health was another matter. He had made no more breakthroughs regarding his memory. He was starting to get frustrated at all the people who knew more about him than he knew about himself.

He sat with his Grandfather one night, a few weeks later, discussing some of the case files that Brennan had brought him to read, in hopes that one of them would jog something in his memory.

He and Brennan had spent a lot of time together, and there definitley was something between them. He could tell. He just wasn't sure how far to push things when it was all so new to him. They had gone on a date a few nights earlier, but she had claimed by the end that she wasn't feeling very well, and had gone home alone. He didn't think that it was an excuse; she had become very pale suddenly, and run off to the bathroom. She had apologized profusely and promised to make it up to him.

The day after he left the hospital, he had met his son Parker, for what was the first time for him. The small boy didn't even flinch when he explained the situation to him; he only asked how Bones was. The boy obviously adored the Doctor, and they spoke about her for awhile.

Parker told him how happy he was when he and Brennan were together. It was obvious to even a seven year old boy. Why couldn't he remember? It was getting more frustrating all the time.

He and his Grandfather now sat at his kitchen table reading the files. So far nothing seemed familiar to him. It was like reading the story of his life written from someone else's point of view.

The two Booth's sat reading and discussing the file about the Gravedigger when something flashed through Booth's peripheral memory...

_He was digging desperately in a pile of dirt. She was there somewhere, he just knew it. He scooped an armload of dirt away and he felt her arm. He pulled with all his might and removed her from the ground. She said something to him, and he kept digging, pulling someone else out of the dirt. He sat beside her and they smiled at each other. She was safe._

The Grandfather watched the man across the table from him, and sensed that something was up. The younger man's eyes seemed very far away, like he was remembering something.

Another memory passed through Booth's mind.

_It was Christmas. He was kissing her under some mistletoe. It felt so right, but it didn't last nearly long enough. She pulled away and said something about Steamboats to someone standing nearby._

Booth felt his heart tug at that memory. Suddenly a flood of memories crashed at him,

_They were dancing in a bar. Lots of other men were watching her, but she only had eyes for him. He dipped her after a twist and she laughed._

_They were in Las Vegas; she was wearing this red dress that stopped his heart. Her arm was around him. He was bleeding._

_He stood in front of a grave. He saw the name Booth written on the headstone._ That was not the part of the memory that stopped his breath, his grandfather had told him how Jared had died; it was the emotion of the memory that brought a smile to his face.

_He stood in front of her, with his hand on her abdomen. His heart soared with what she had just let him know. He was going to be a father again. _

The Grandfather watched, hopeful, as the younger Booth sat there with a huge smile on his face.

"What's going on Seeley?"

"I remember her. She's pregnant! Why didn't anyone tell me that?"

Booth stood up from the table, and reached for his coat that he had carelessly tossed on the counter when they had sat down earlier. He looked at his Grandfather with an expression that was pure bliss. The older man smiled at him, and tossed him his car keys from his pocket.

"What are you waiting for... go get her!"

Booth grabbed the keys and was out the door before another word was spoken.

He drove the again-familiar route to her place and was at her door knocking before he knew it. He heard her footsteps coming towards the door and he took a deep breath.

The door opened, and she looked as though she had been sleeping.

"I'm sorry Bones, did I wake you up?" His dark brown eyes showed his regret.

"No, but, what are you doing here? Did your Grandfather drop you off?" She let him in to the foyer, and wrapped her robe a little tighter around herself.

"Nope. I drove myself. I saw your lights on from the street, and I had something to tell you."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"You saw my lights from the street?"

"That is correct." The conversation brought a sense of déjà vu to the woman. She looked at him carefully.

"Will you come in?"

"Of course." He entered her living room and dropped his coat on the couch before turning back to her.

She seemed nervous, as though she was entertaining him for the first time.

"Can I get you something to drink?" He smiled at her. It was time to spill the secret.

"Do you have any of that crazy foreign beer that you know I like so much? And something non-alcoholic for yourself?"

She nodded at him, unaware of what he had just said. She took two steps towards the kitchen, and snapped her head back at him.

"How did you know I had non-alcoholic beer in my fridge?"

"Because I saw it there the day before my surgery. I remembered that you had it."

She looked at him just stunned. A smile crept onto her mouth and she turned fully back towards him.

His grin was so huge that her broken heart pieced itself back together in seconds. She took a step towards him, unsure if she could believe it.

"I remember everything Temperance. Everything. It all came back to me in a flash about an hour ago."

She took another step towards him.

"I want to thank you for not abandoning me. For guiding me back..."

She took one more step, and she was nearly in his arms.

"Isn't that your Ranger motto Booth...Leave no man behind?"

"Something like that..."

She took the initiative to remove any more space that was between them, and she kissed him with every bit of passion she could muster on such short notice. He kissed her back with more passion than he knew he even possessed.

Her robe hit the floor seconds later, and a trail of his clothes followed him into the bedroom where the rest of his memories came flooding back in an expression of true love. Laws of Physics were nearly broken that night and the two came pretty damn close to becoming one. A few different times through the night.

He was back. He was just lost for a little while.

He was back... heart and soul.

*

*

*

TBC...


	17. Partners again and always

Chapter Seventeen:

Booth sat once again outside the office of Doctor Callaway. His appointment would determine if he was finally ready to return to work after a six week absence while recovering from his multiple brain surgeries and the subsequent memory loss.

Bones couldn't be there with him, she had her own appointment with an obstetrician. She would get to hear the baby's heartbeat today, and see the pictures of the first ultrasound. He was just a little disappointed that he wouldn't be there for the big moment. His appointment had been scheduled for days and he was desperately bored and wanted to get back to his job of solving murders that no one else could.

He sat in the waiting room, his outward appearance was one of calmness and peacefulness, but his innards were churning. If the Doctor said 'no', then there would be no more FBI for him. He had dutifully attended the physio appointments and he had passed his physical with flying colors. There was one small thing that he had kept secret from everybody. He still had occasional numbness in his right hand. He had been out to the firing range almost daily and his accuracy was still beyond the highest levels required by the FBI, but only he knew that he was still a little off. He wanted so desperately to return to work that he was willing to ignore the slight disability.

It was the neurological part of the physical that worried him now. Doctor Callaway and a team of specialists still had no explanation for his temporary amnesia. He had no further episodes of memory loss, but the Doctors couldn't guarantee him that it wouldn't happen again. They feverently hoped not, but they could make him no promises. That is what held up his return to work. The FBI needed solid word that his memory wouldn't cut out half way through a major case, leaving them in the lurch.

Finally a nurse waved him into the inner office. She smiled at him as he got up to follow her. He knew the way, but she walked with him anyway.

"How are you today Agent Booth? Where's Doctor Brennan?" The nurse loved watching the interaction between the two. They were so obviously meant for each other, it was rare to see. The man smiled at her. Her heart flipped a little when he did, she thought just how lucky Doctor Brennan was.

"No...She had a previous engagement today. You're stuck with just me." His charming smile shone through and his eyes sparkled at her. When he saw the nurse blush, he laughed to himself, he still had it. There was only one woman who would truly be the recipient of his charm, and she was at this moment seeing the first images of their child. He was jealous, but understood that there would be more opportunities to see an ultrasound. They still had six months of pregnancy to deal with.

As he sat in Doctor Callaway's office, his mind wandered to the future. He wondered who the baby would look like the most. He hoped it would be a little girl who looked just like her mother, but he would be just as thrilled with a boy who looked just like his mother. Either way, he was thrilled with the situation. He couldn't wait to meet that little bundle that would complete his every wish. The door to the office opened and the Doctor walked in, carrying the thick file that was Booth's medical file of the recent months.

He sat down in the chair behind his desk and set the file down on the desk with a thunk. Booth smiled at the man when they made eye contact.

"So, Doc, what's the word. Am I clear?"

""Well, Agent Booth, your last series of scans all came back negative for any anomalies. That is very good news. The only thing that we are still worried about is the memory loss you suffered after the last surgery. We still can find no physical explanation for it, and thusly, we cannot prove that it might not happen again."

The Doctor saw the shoulders of the man slump.

"So what can we do?" His dark brown eyes looked at the doctor with near pleading.

"Okay... there is something; we have spoken to the FBI about it, and they are willing to sign off on your return if you are willing to undergo a series of meetings with a psychologist, just to make sure that your temporary memory loss was not caused by something psychological. Would you be willing to do this?"

"Can I meet with Doctor Wyatt? That would be okay."

"No, your file has been forwarded to one..." He paused while he flipped through a few pages of the file, "...Doctor Lance Sweets."

Booth groaned out loud, and the Doctor Callaway looked at him with surprise.

"Do you know this man? He's very young, but he's very well qualified..."

"I know who he is. My partner and I work with him regularly on cases, he's been...well... helpful to say the least." Booth chose his adjective very carefully.

If meeting with Sweets meant he could return to work, then he was willing to make that sacrifice. He could handle the young Doctor.

It was agreed then that Booth would return to work with the FBI, under close supervision during a probationary period, just to make sure he was back to his old self. The man's smile couldn't be curbed by anything at that moment.

Doctor Callaway shook his hand, handed him the signed form stating that he was able to return to duty and said he would see him for another appointment in two months, unless something happened before then that was unforeseen. The Doctor hoped that the man's issues would be resolved and his life could return to normal. He had a beautiful woman waiting for him, and a child on the way. The FBI Agent deserved some normalcy after everything that had happened.

Agent Booth thought the very same thing as he walked out of the office. As he got into his vehicle he tried to call Bones, but she wasn't answering her phone. He assumed she was still in her appointment. He started to drive to the Jeffersonian with a refreshed state of mind. He was back. Or would be very shortly. He could stop by the Hoover building later and pick up his gun and his badge, and set up the first appointment with Sweets. He was not exactly looking forward to that, but all things considered, he could sacrifice the time if it meant he could go back into the field. He might be able to start as early as tomorrow. He flexed the numbness out of his hand as he drove.

He arrived at the lab in a better mood than he had the last few times. He almost strutted as he walked through the entrance, excited to tell the squints of his news. He would be there as a fully functional Agent again.

He looked around the lab, but there was not a familiar face around. The platform was empty, and he wondered where everyone was. He went to Bones' office and sat down behind her desk. He picked up the small plastic pig that sat on the corner and turned it over in his hand with a smile. He was amazed she had kept it all this time. He set it back down and looked towards her door to see her coming across the floor of the lab. His heart leapt at the sight of her, as it always did. She smiled when she saw him sitting there.

In a completely unexpected move, she strode across her office and sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck. She kissed him ever so gently on the lips and he accepted it with a smile.

"So... how was your appointment?"

They both spoke the words to each other at exactly the same time, and then they both laughed. He went first,

"I'm clear. I just have to check in with the Hoover people to get my gun and my badge back. I can probably do that this afternoon, and then, we are officially partners again." They still smiled at each other. "How's the baby?"

"Everything is progressing normally. Development of the fetus is within the range of expected parameters. The Doctor is only concerned that I'm not gaining enough weight." He looked at her and set his hand on her firming abdomen.

"Is she worried that your morning sickness is so severe? Is that normal?" His brown eyes expressed his concern about both her and the baby.

"She says it's normal. It should lessen as I enter the second trimester, and I just have to make sure I'm eating enough."

They kissed tenderly, with the good news from both of their appointments. They were interrupted by someone clearing their voice from the doorway to her office. They both turned their heads to see Agent Perotta standing there, with Cam slightly behind her. They were both smiling, and trying to avert their eyes, but they couldn't.

"You guys were much less awkward to be around when you were both in denial about your feelings." Agent Perotta spoke first.

"No...They really weren't. It was always awkward!" Cam added her opinion and the two ladies standing in the doorway smiled as Doctor Brennan stood up from Booth's lap and leaned on the edge of her desk. She smiled at her partner, and was pleased that he did not seem fazed by their interrupted moment of affection.

"Get used to it you guys. I have officially been cleared to return to duty, so you're going to be seeing a lot more of me around." Booth's smile went to everyone in the room, and they all smiled back at him.

"Congratulations Agent Booth, you left a tough act to follow. It will be good to work with you again." Perotta walked over to shake his hand, to officially welcome him back to active duty. She turned back to Doctor Brennan, "If you are available tomorrow, we have some new leads about a couple of suspects in that case we've been working."

"Absolutely. Perhaps the three of us can work together on this one." Her eyes went from her partner to Agent Perotta, and they both nodded agreement. Tomorrow.

Cam spoke up again,

"Doctor Brennan, we could use your input on a body that is coming in right away. It was found early this morning, just outside of DC and no identification has been made yet. Can you come?"

Bones nodded, and leaned over to give her partner a quick kiss on the cheek before she left with Cam to meet the body that was being wheeled in to the lab.

Perotta watched Booth as his eyes followed her until she was out of their range of sight. A few months ago she would have been jealous, but she had come to terms with her feelings for the tall FBI Agent, and realized that his heart belonged to his partner. And now they both knew it. Everyone knew it. They had both been through so much, and the blonde Agent was happy for them.

"You guys seem really happy. It's good to see." Perotta smiled to Booth and he grinned back.

"We've earned it. That's for sure."

He got up from behind the desk and told her he would meet her tomorrow to help work the case. He had to go to the Hoover building to ensure that everything was in order for his return.

He left the office and she followed him as far as the platform, she went up the steps and he continued to the door. Bones waved to him as he walked past where she was examining the body, and he winked and smiled at her.

The squints who were watching the interaction smiled at the two. Everything was falling back into place. Again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Booth and Brennan spent the evening together admiring the first ultrasound pictures of their baby. His badge and gun sat on the coffee table, as a subtle reminder that he was back officially with the FBI. His first appointment with Sweets had been booked in a few days. She teased him about what the psychologist and he would talk about, but he cut off the conversation with a tender kiss that escalated quickly. It was morning before they both knew it.

They prepared for work together and left her apartment at the same time with the understanding that they would meet in her office as soon as possible, and they, with Agent Perotta, would head down to the small corner store where one of the suspects was supposed to be working that morning.

They were both eagerly anticipating the day ahead of them.

The two FBI Agents and Doctor Brennan met according to plan, went over the preliminary details of what information that they hoped to obtain, and were soon on the way to the store to question the suspect.

Agent Perotta sat in the backseat on the way there and laughed to herself as the two in the front seats argued over whether or not to find out the sex of their baby before it was born. She wanted to know, he did not. They had not come to an agreement when he pulled up about a block away from the store and parked the SUV.

He went first in the front door, with the warning for the ladies to keep their eyes open, to be alert. He walked up to the counter and spoke to the man standing there, flashing him his badge.

Perotta took a quick walk around the small store, just checking the situation, making sure there was nothing suspicious. She saw movement in the back room and kept her eye on it, while trying to hear everything that Booth was asking the man. The conversation was becoming heated while Booth was pressing the man to find out why the body of the murdered man in question had been found behind the store in a dumpster. Brennan stood close to Booth, but glanced occasionally back to Perotta.

It happened so fast that no one even saw it coming.

A man came flying out of the back room with a gun drawn, and he yelled at everyone to get the hell out of his business.

The man behind the counter, reached down and had a gun pulled out before Booth or Brennan could react. He leapt over the counter and grabbed Bones with one arm around her neck and his other hand held a pistol to her head. She was shocked as the man dragged her towards the door.

Booth had his gun aimed at the man's head with as fast a draw as he had ever done. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Perotta aim her firearm at the man who had stormed out of the back room.

"Perotta! If you've got a shot take it!" He yelled at the female Agent, hoping to distract the man who had Bones in his grasp.

Three shots rang out almost simultaneously.

The man running from the back dropped instantly with the shot from Perotta finding its mark, but not before he had fired off his gun in the direction of Brennan and her captor.

The man holding Bones also dropped to the floor as Booth fired his gun at the man's head. Booth noticed that his trigger finger paused, his reaction was delayed. Only briefly, but still...

Brennan fell with the gravely injured man and it took Booth only a second to see the red stain start to form on her left shoulder. The third bullet had hit her. Whether it was from his gun or the man storming from the back, he didn't yet know.

He rushed to her side, and kicked the gun away from the man who, only seconds before, had been behind the counter.

He immediately applied pressure to the wound and she just looked at him, the pain already forming in her eyes.

"Wow, Booth, welcome back." Her voice was scratchy and the red stain beneath his hand grew.

He turned back to Perotta who was making sure the other man was definitely out of commission, and yelled,

"Call an ambulance will you! She's hit!"

Perotta already had her phone in her hand...

*

*


	18. Gone baby Gone

Chapter Eighteen:

*

*

"Hold on Bones!! Help is on the way." He held her up into a bit more of a sitting position, and she groaned when he did it.

She was still alert, but her eyes were reflecting the pain that he knew she must feel. He knew firsthand the pain she was feeling. The hot steel of the bullet piercing warm human flesh was not a pleasant experience. Perotta had grabbed something from the freezer by the door and brought it back to where the partners were. Booth looked at her questioningly when she handed him the bag of frozen vegetables.

"What the hell is this for?" He didn't take the pro-offered item from the blonde Agent's hand.

"It will help slow the bleeding if you apply it to the wound..." She made the motion to apply the frozen item to the shoulder of Doctor Brennan. The injured woman looked from one Agent to the other.

"It's true Booth. The same technique saved your life when you had the bleed in your brain."

He was just a little surprised that she was so coherent. She was losing a lot of blood. His hands were already stained with her life fluid.

He held her closely and pressed the bag against the wound on the front of her shoulder. He looked back up at the blonde woman hovering over them.

"Can you see a wound in the back?" He held Bones just a little bit closer to his chest to expose her back to Perotta. The Agent knelt down to look closer.

"It looks like the bullet went in the back, and out the front. Through and through."

Booth was quietly relieved. If the bullet went in the back and out the front that meant it was not his shot that had hit her. The angles were wrong. He would have hit her in the front. It didn't lessen his worry about her condition, she was still bleeding profusely. And if she went into shock, the baby could be at risk too...if it wasn't already. He looked down into her eyes again and tried to smile.

"Everything is going to be just fine. The ambulance will be here any minute now." He hoped his words were more reassuring than he felt they were. He noticed how pale she was becoming, and her eyes closed more than once. Every time they did, he gave her a little shake to keep her conscious.

It wasn't long before the lights and the sirens both reached his senses at the same time. The ambulance crew entered the scene, wary. They had only been informed that shots were fired and someone was down. The first paramedic approached the two on the floor, but eyed the fallen man behind them. A group of police officers and what looked like a few FBI Agents were right there too. Booth watched the scene and grew impatient quickly with their hesitation.

"Don't worry about that guy... she's hit in the shoulder. We need you here!" Booth flashed his badge at the crew, who were now approaching them a little quicker. His hand went immediately back to applying pressure through the frozen bag. The first medic waved for the others to follow him in the door with a stretcher.

They tended her quickly, while Booth and Perotta filled them in on what had happened. One of the three medics did a quick check on the two other fallen men in the store. He called out from behind them,

"This one's still got a pulse!"

One of the other paramedics made a move to help the other man, but Booth grabbed him by the arm before he had fully stood and glared at him fiercely.

"No! You help her, and then you help him. He shot her... She deserves treatment first. She's my partner, and she's pregnant...I want her looked after with every ounce of your ability..." The medic definitely noticed the serious tone of the man's voice, and wondered to himself if there was more than just a partnership going on there. He seemed very protective of her.

He kept his thoughts to himself, and helped shift Brennan so that they could lift her onto the stretcher. They had her secured in moments and Booth followed along beside his partner as she was being wheeled towards the vehicle outside. Her eyes were now closed, and he wasn't sure if she was resting, or unconscious. He grabbed her hand.

"Bones, stay with me there okay..." her eyelids flickered open and she looked at him and tried to smile.

"I'm here Booth." Her voice sounded weaker.

Without hesitation, he climbed in the back of the ambulance beside her and gave the medics a look that said 'I dare you to stop me'. They did not.

One of the medics continued to attend to her while one of the others went around to the front and got in the driver's seat. Booth only assumed the other one was still attending the fallen man in the store. He didn't really care what happened to that guy. It was only her he was concerned about. He watched while the man in the back with them prepared a syringe and made a move to inject it directly into the intravenous already in her arm. He got the word 'Whoa' out before Brennan, who had been watching everything that was happening, tried to sit up while grabbing the man's arm.

"What is that?" Her voice suddenly seemed stronger but her eyes showed the pain she felt by her actions.

The medic looked at them both.

"It's only morphine. It'll cut the pain almost instantly."

"No! No morphine. It's not good for the baby." She lay back down; the exertion was harder than she thought.

"Are you sure? That's gotta hurt like crazy!" He gestured towards her now loosely bandaged shoulder with the syringe in his hand. He looked to Booth to help him out with the argument, but the FBI Agent just shrugged his shoulders.

"I've discovered that it's easier to just do what she says. She doesn't change her mind very easily..." Booth took hold of her hand again and the ambulance turned on its sirens as it turned onto a major street.

The man driving asked for a status update, and the medic beside Booth gave him her stats. Her vitals were fluctuating, and Booth felt the vehicle accelerate just a little bit.

Bones was still with them. Conscious, but not saying anything. Booth muttered words of encouragement and comfort. Her silence was killing him. She squeezed his hand.

The medic pulled out his stethoscope and held it to her abdomen. He moved around the headpiece a few times and Booth, who was so good at reading people, noticed the worried look on the man's face.

"What?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"

The paramedic looked closer at Booth and made up his mind that these two were definitely more than just partners. He suspected the worried man had something to do with the baby as well, judging by the look on his face. He didn't know how to say it, but he knew, as his training had taught him, that honesty was best.

"I don't know if it's anything...but I'm not getting a heartbeat from the baby. How far along are you?" He asked them both. Booth responded.

"About thirteen weeks, give or take a day or two..."

"Well, it could be that the heartbeat is still too weak to hear."

"I had an ultrasound yesterday... the technician said the heartbeat was really strong. I heard it clearly." Her weak voice joined the concerned conversation. She looked to Booth, and their eyes locked in panic.

The look was not lost on the medic, whose heart went out to them just a little bit. He tried to make them feel better by explaining that they would find out more when they got to the hospital. The equipment was limited in the back of the ambulance. He watched their knuckles turn white as they held each other's hand even tighter. Her eyes closed again and didn't open until they reached the emergency department of the hospital.

The attending Doctors, who had been waiting for them, had to pry the hands apart of the partners to examine her more closely. As soon as Booth lost the connection with his partner, things spiralled quickly away from him. The Doctors only took a minute to decide what to do. They were sending her immediately to X-ray to see if there were any bullet fragments left in her, and to see the extent of the damage. They thought that the bullet had gone right through, but they needed to be sure there was nothing more serious.

The medical team quickly explained the situation to Booth, and before he could say or do anything, she was gone down the hall. He wandered back to the admitting area, the shock of the morning's events started to catch up with him. He looked down and saw that he was still covered in her blood. He went into the public washroom and tried his best to remove what stains he could. He went back to the common waiting room, unsure of what he should do, and sat down among a row of sick and injured people. They all stared at the blood on his clothes, but he ignored them. He sat with his head in his hands.

Across from him sat a new mother with her very young baby. The baby's cries brought his focus back to his situation. He closed his eyes and said a quick, though silent prayer, that Bones and their baby would be okay. If anything happened to either of them, he would go back to that store and kill both of those men again.

He got up, no longer able to distract himself from his worry. He had to find out something. Somehow. He pestered the nurse at the station for awhile, and eventually they agreed to let him go to the X-ray area to wait for her. They didn't think it would be a long wait. The nurses knew nothing more than that.

He paced outside the room where she was being X-rayed and really didn't wait all that long before the Doctor came out, and the nurses followed pushing her on a hospital gurney. The Doctor stopped briefly to let him know he was going to go get the prints from her scans and he would be back in just a few minutes. Booth thanked him, and looked down at his partner. She smiled at him, and closed her eyes. He could still see the pain in them.

"How are you doing?" He asked when while they went down the hallway, into a private room.

"I have to be honest. This hurts more than I expected it would." She tried to smile again, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"You're going to be just fine Bones. Don't even worry about it."

"Who's worried?" She closed her eyes again. "Promise me something Booth."

"Anything!"

"No morphine okay. Even if I'm unconscious..."

He promised.

Even through the pain, and the blood loss, she believed the baby was just fine. He certainly hoped so. A Doctor walked through the door just as her IV was hung from a post behind the bed and the nurses went to remove the temporary dressing that was on her shoulder.

The wound was still bloody, but most of the major bleeding had seemed to stop. It still didn't look good. He became a little nauseous looking at it.

The Doctor lit up a screen on one of the walls and stuck a couple of X-rays up on it. He stared at them for a while, and then went back to the patient. He pulled back her hospital gown a little bit, to expose more of her arm.

Booth had to look away. He never thought he had a weak stomach, but he had never seen someone he cared about so much with such an ugly wound. He watched as the Doctor tried to lift her arm and she cried out. His stomach dropped. The Doctor said out loud,

"There it went." He noticed Booth watching carefully and motioned him over to the bed, and showed him another small wound just at the bottom of her ribs. "Do you see that?" He waited until Booth nodded, and then continued,

"That's the path of a bullet fragment. The bullet ricocheted off the clavicle, shattering it, and a piece of it diverted through the soft tissue, and exited there. That fragment missed her heart by about an inch. If it had pierced the heart, she would have bled out in minutes, but it went right out. That one was close..."

Booth closed his eyes in relief for just a second.

"Does that mean everything is going to be okay? I mean, all the bullet came out right?"

"There appears to be no trace of any metal fragments anywhere in her chest. The worst of it seems to be the shattered clavicle, but we can put a few screws, and as long as she stays immobile for awhile, it should heal up in time. It appears that no major vessels or arteries were hit, but we'll take a look around when we go in. I am very confident that she'll be just fine, with time and rest. I'm just going to go confer with the other attending Doctors and we'll be back in a little while to fix her right up."

That was good news. Booth wondered about the other situation.

"What about the baby? The paramedic couldn't get a heartbeat in the ambulance." The Doctor saw the distress on the man's face.

At that moment, a couple of nurses entered the room pushing some sort of monitor on a cart. They pushed it to the side of the bed and started to hook up wires to Brennan.

"We're going to find out about that right now." The Doctor made a quiet departure while the technician attached the fetal monitor to the patient.

Booth moved to her side and held her hand. She had not said anything in awhile, but he knew she had been following the conversation. The blankets and her hospital gown were rearranged so that only her abdomen was showing. The changes had been so subtle that Booth had not really noticed before, but there was definitely a rounded little bump where her stomach was usually so flat.

They both watched as a blue gel was squirted on her and the tech started to move a wand around on her exposed skin. They held their breath while this continued for a few minutes, until finally the faint, speedy heartbeat of their baby was heard through the speakers. The tech smiled as they both exhaled slowly. She waited until she had the attention of both of them and then she pointed to a blurry spot on the screen.

"That's your baby. Everything seems just fine."

Booth felt tears come to his eyes. The baby was fine. So far. He heard her quiet little voice say his name.

"Booth?"

He wiped his eyes before he looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Are you crying?"

He wiped his eyes again and thought about denying it, but decided to be honest. Alpha-male tendencies be damned.

"Yeah."

She gave him a look that affirmed to him that his heart belonged to her. It was very mutual.

The Doctor came in after the Tech made a phone call to let him know that all was well with her pregnancy. They could go ahead with the repair of the gunshot wound. The two were left alone only briefly, while the final preparations were made.

They spoke quietly and she admitted to him that she was tired. He promised her that the worst would be over soon, and he would be right there for her when she woke up. He was allowed to wait in the room while she was wheeled away. He kissed her on the forehead before she left, and they whispered I love you to each other.

He sat down in the chair in the room to wait.

He must have drifted off to sleep because before he knew it, she was wheeled back in, asleep still from the general anaesthetic and he wondered how she had waited for weeks for him to wake up, because he grew impatient after only an hour.

She eventually stirred and the nurses were there almost instantly to check on her. The Doctor came in and explained the procedure to Booth. Everything had gone according to plan. It was all up to her now. Booth thought in his mind that it was up to them now. He wasn't leaving her side.

He waited with her all night. She woke up a few times, and he was right there for her every time. She still refused pain medication, and tried to remain upbeat, but he could tell that she hurt. He hurt because she did.

The morning came and he only knew because he watched the clock on the wall when he could no longer sleep. But she still could, and he was happy to let her. He wondered how much more the two of them would have to go through before they could live normal lives. The two of them and the family they were creating.

She awoke early in the morning and he noticed immediately that it was the most alert she had been yet. They stared into each other's eyes in the dim light, and it was she who spoke first.

"Booth...?"

"Yeah."

"How much more of this can we take?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm so tired of this." She gestured to the hospital room or the universe in general. He wasn't sure.

"Yeah. A lot has happened lately hey? We've just had a string of bad luck... We're all fighters though." She smiled when he laid his hand gently on her abdomen. "We'll get through this."

"I know. I'm just so tired."

He told her to sleep, and leaned over her to kiss her cheek and brush her hair behind her ear. She slept. He waited.

The morning passed, and he turned off his cell phone after the first few calls started coming in from both Squints and FBI who had heard what happened, and wanted an update. The nurses came in a few times to let him know that people were looking for him. He stalled in going out to the waiting room. He didn't want to leave her side. She woke up on and off through the morning and she was asleep again when his attention was brought to the door of the room by a familiar face. He got up gently from her side to go out into the hallway. This was not a man he would ignore.

He brushed quickly at his rumpled, bloody clothes, trying to fix his appearance before he presented himself to Deputy Director Cullen. He closed the door to her room quietly and squinted at the bright lights in the hallway. His Boss reached out to shake his hand.

Booth wondered what was up. An appearance from this man in person could never mean a good thing.

"Good day Agent Booth. How is Doctor Brennan?"

"It looks like she's going to be just fine. It'll take a little time, but she'll be okay." Booth really wondered what was up. Cullen was being very nice so far. That meant he wasn't in trouble, if whatever else. He doubted that the esteemed man would travel all the way down to the hospital just to enquire about the well being of Doctor Brennan.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that." The man seemed to be stalling. The older man looked Booth in the eye with a very serious stare. "Look, Agent Booth, there was an incident late last night at the Women's Federal Prison."

Cullen watched the man's expression change from one of worry to one of question.

"With all due respect Sir, I'm not sure what that has to do with me."

"Well, we're not sure exactly how yet... but a group of prisoners stormed a guard post, and managed to escape to a waiting van or bus or something. Anyway, there were a number of prison officials killed and the whole plan was apparently quite elaborate. We still have investigators on the scene, but one of the prisoners who escaped was Heather Taffet..." Cullen waited while realization dawned on the younger man's face.

"The Gravedigger? She escaped?" Booth shut his eyes and put his hand over them. This was too much.

"That's not all, I'm afraid. When our investigators got to her cell, they discovered a number of journals and diaries, and they all describe, sometimes very graphically, the demise of both you and Doctor Brennan." He paused, waiting for some sort of reaction from Booth. So far there was none.

Cullen continued, while Booth kept his hand on his eyes.

"About an hour ago, a call was received from the FBI main switchboard making a definite threat against the lives of both you and your partner. We're presently tracing the call, but whoever left it, has talent. They have us on quite a chase for sure. We no longer believe that Heather Taffet worked alone, and now we fear she had teamed up again with whoever was responsible for the original kidnappings."

"What do we do?" Booth finally lowered his hand. Cullen noticed that his hand trembled just a little bit, but his voice remained steady.

"The FBI is putting you under the highest level of security protection, and one of our Top Agents, who has recently returned from Sabbatical, has a plan that might intrigue you. The entire FBI is going to make sure that you and Doctor Brennan are safe. You have our word."

Booth thought fast.

"What about my son and his mother. They'll need protection too."

"We already have Agents on the way to pick them both up. The threat made against you was very, very serious. We're covering all the bases."

Cullen took Booth by the shoulder and guided him around the corner from her room where another man was waiting, leaning up against the wall.

Booth recognized him immediately, even though it had been a few years since he had seen the man.

"Sully! What are you doing back in this neck of the world?"

The two men shook hands. They were both glad to see each other, even though the jealous feelings once felt by one, were now felt by the other.

"Agent Booth. Good to see you man. I've been back for weeks, but I haven't seen you around the office much lately." Sully smiled. He knew why.

"Yeah. Brain thing. Believe it or not, this was my first day back. Nice huh?"

Sully looked at him seriously.

"How is she?"

"She'll be okay. She just needs time to heal." Booth suddenly wondered if she had woken up again and he wasn't there. Sully sensed the change in mood and decided to get to the point.

"Deputy Director Cullen and I have a proposition for you...You and Temperance leave right now, we have a Medivac waiting upstairs. They'll fly you to where my boat is docked. On the boat are two Navy Seals who will pose as your crew to help you out and you guys sail into the middle of the ocean until we find these sons of bitches that are out to get you. I will personally take over all of your cases while you are gone..."

Both men watched Booth make his decision.

"I'll ask Bones. I think she'll go for it. What about her care? She's only hours out of surgery."

Cullen answered.

"There's a Doctor on stand-by, in the Medivac, who is willing to accompany you on the boat until she recovers. We've covered everything. We can leave in fifteen minutes. We'll take care of you Agent Booth. And your whole family."

Booth nodded and said thanks. He turned and went back into her room, where he found her awake. He thought it would take long to convince her, but she surprised him with her answer.

"Let's go."

Twenty minutes later the helicopter took off from the roof of the hospital with the two passengers on their way to a secret location. Only Cullen and Sully knew where they had gone. The fewer people who knew, the safer they would be.

Cullen waited a few more minutes before going back through the waiting room where he knew a number of people had gathered, waiting to see Booth or Brennan.

He recognized a few from the Jeffersonian, and Caroline Julian. He wondered what she was doing there. She was the one who approached him first.

"Deputy Director. I am just wondering about my star witness in my rapidly approaching trial against Booth's Father. Is she going to be ready? Is she okay?"

Cullen shook his head.

"She's gone."

Everyone in the room expelled their breath in shock.

"She died?" Caroline looked ready to explode. Tears formed quickly in more than a few eyes.

Cullen shook his head again. He hadn't meant to mislead them.

"No, that's not what I meant... With the threat from the Gravedigger, they've gone into hiding for their own protection. They've gone somewhere safe until we can recapture Heather Taffet and whoever aided in her escape."

The mood shift was audible in the room. Caroline again spoke up.

"How the hell am I supposed to win that trial now?" She turned and left the room quickly.

*

*

*

To be continued.....

*


	19. moving through, passing on

Chapter Nineteen:

*

_**1 Month Later**_

The Dock master who was in charge of the marina watched as two of his newest clients sat on their boat. They had rented the berth for three days, letting him know that they needed to take on supplies and would only be there for a short while. They had mostly kept to themselves for the day that they had been there. They had sailed in early that morning, and had paid cash upfront so he didn't really bother with them too much. Now, he watched from his office as two of them sat on the deck of their boat. He had seen the others leave a few hours ago, two men and a woman. The men looked as though they could win any fight they got into, and the woman was small, but carried herself with confidence. He always wondered about the stories of the people who stopped in his Marina. He ran a busy little docking system, the Bahamas being an almost perfect halfway point to and from anywhere in the Caribbean. This group of people was no exception. He watched the two left behind with interest.

He was a tall, well-built man who seemed to dote on the woman sitting next to him. He leaned towards her often, and was always gently touching her in some way. His hair was bleached blonde, but before long he put on a cap to cover his head. He was shirtless, and showed signs on his back that he had very recently been sunburned. The Dock master presumed they were on some kind of vacation, and had not been long exposed to the raging sun of the Caribbean.

She was as pale as anybody he had ever seen, but he assumed that she had very recently been injured somehow, judging by the bandage on her shoulder and her arm supported by a sling. She wore a large hat and sunglasses, as though she was trying to keep herself from being noticed. Her clothes were inconspicuous. A simple tank top and shorts, but she wore them well. Anyone would notice her, the man thought to himself. She seemed like a very well put together woman. He was a little jealous of the man who sat beside her and who never took his eyes off of her.

He watched as they laughed together at some shared joke.

He watched further, well hidden by the sun's glare off of his office window, as the man reached over for a bottle of something on the deck between them. He proceeded to squirt some of the liquid on his hand and went on to sunscreen the pale woman. He affectionately dabbed her nose and she swatted at him playfully with her good arm. They laughed again.

When he had covered her neck with the screening agent, he kissed her a few times, and his hand lingered on her good shoulder as he said something to her. Whatever he said must have been serious because she just stared at him while he spoke. Eventually she smiled and the two of them kissed slowly and passionately. The Dock Master averted his eyes for only a second, not sure if they would appreciate the attention. He couldn't look away for long though. This couple intrigued him.

He watched still as they continued to kiss. Eventually they pulled apart and he could see them smiling at each other from where he watched. The woman leaned back in her chair, and the man got up to go below deck for something. He returned moments later and handed a bottle of water to the woman. She took one sip and put it down and reached her right hand out to the man as he sat back down on the chair beside her. When he had comforted himself, he took her hand, kissed her fingers and just held the appendage. They remained that way for awhile and the Dock master soon lost some of his interest in them. He really had paperwork to do. Or something more productive than ogle the couple.

He spent hours in his office, tending to other sailors who needed his assistance with one thing or another. The couple had left the deck the next time he looked in their direction. He wondered where they had gone. His imagination strayed into their bed and what they might be doing there, and he wondered if that man knew how lucky he was. Some people had all the luck.

Not long after, he was walking back to his office after connecting the water supply to another boat, when he saw the other members of the mystery couple's crew coming back towards their boat. They each carried a large box of supplies, and he saw that down at the end of the dock, a rental van waited with the back door still open. They must be stocking up for quite a trip, he thought. He wondered where they were headed next. As he walked past them, he nodded hello to one of the men, but the man just ignored him. When the three got to the boat, the shirtless man met them and helped take the box from the small woman's arms and spoke to her for a minute while the other two men dropped their boxes on the deck. The three men went back to take another load of supplies onto the boat, but the woman went below deck.

The Dock master didn't see either woman again that evening, and he hoped everything was okay. Even though he knew nothing about this crew, he wanted to know. He watched again from his office window through the evening, but he never saw the injured woman again. He thought he saw the shirtless man look in the direction of his window once while talking to one of the other men, and the Marina owner ducked away from the window quickly.

He went back to his own boat late in the evening, hoping that maybe again tomorrow he would get a glimpse of the injured woman. Maybe he could think of an excuse to talk to her.

The next morning... he looked towards the boat of the mysterious travellers to see if anyone was moving around yet but...

They were gone.

_**2 Months after That...**_

A woman sat on a bench along the boardwalk in Miami Beach. She was waiting for her husband and kids to finish surfing to take them home, but apparently the swells were pretty good and they had asked to stay for another couple of hours. She was happy to stay and wait. She loved people watching along the boardwalk. She always wondered about their stories, and what went on in their heads.

She watched as one couple walked towards her and they immediately commanded her attention. The man was tall and tanned. He wore a ball cap, and sunglasses and she could see dyed blonde hair poking out around the edges. His shirt was only barely buttoned, and his sculpted chest was clearly visible in the sunlight. He was a very good-looking man, the woman definitely noticed him first.

He held the hand of a woman as they walked down the wooden path along the ocean. She was obviously pregnant; her tight fitting clothes did nothing to hide the fact. It suited her, the woman sitting on the bench thought to herself. She could see the glowing smile of the woman as they came closer to her. What a happy looking family.

The man's other hand was attached to the hand of a small blonde boy, he could have been six or seven, the woman couldn't tell for sure. He was a cute kid, and he skipped along as the adults walked at a leisurely pace towards the beach entrance. The boy carried a backpack and seemed in a hurry to get to the ocean.

The man and woman smiled at each other at the boy's antics. As the couple passed directly in front of her, the woman noticed the recently healed wound on the bare shoulder of the lady. She wondered what had happened, that scar didn't look good. It almost looked like a bullet wound, but the lady didn't seem the type for gunplay. That was just another intriguing bit about this couple. The woman walking with the man held her arm close to her, as though she was still having trouble with it. Her hand rested on her belly.

The woman on the bench watched them still, as they stopped when the little boy tapped his father on his arm and whispered something in the tall man's ear when he bent towards the boy. He let go of the hand of the woman and she smiled at the two, and understood some unspoken hint that the boys needed to talk. The boy spoke for awhile and pointed towards a shop just on the other side of the railing, across the street.

The man looked back towards his partner and smiled and whispered something back to the boy. He went over and spoke briefly to the woman and pointed to a food stand slightly up the walkway. She kissed him quickly and headed towards it, smiling over her shoulder at him, still walking slowly.

The boy and the man headed into a jewellery store when they knew the woman was distracted by something to eat. They were in there for quite a while; the woman waiting for her boys had sat down on a bench a few down from the woman watching her. She sat patiently and drank her fruit juice while she waited. She seemed so relaxed and calm; the watching woman wondered how she did it. Some people just didn't let the world get them down.

Eventually the boy and the man came back towards her, but they had doubled back a little bit so the woman wouldn't know what store they had come from. The woman on the bench, watching the interaction between the unknown couple, saw the man tuck a small black box in the pocket of his shorts. The tanned man and his son walked past her again as they approached the pregnant woman sitting on the bench further up the boardwalk. She saw them coming and tried to get up, and the man took her hand and helped her stand with his arm around her expanded waist. He kissed her on the cheek, and took her hand again, and the small boy claimed his other hand.

They kept walking towards the beach and the boy skipped again. The father almost seemed to be skipping as well. Whatever he had just purchased at the jewellery store had made him very happy. The boy too. And probably, very shortly, the woman as well.

They walked towards the beach, and the woman couldn't help but follow them. Not in a creepy way, she was just intrigued. They were adorable. She had never seen a couple more obviously suited for one another, though she admitted to herself that she knew nothing about them.

As they went through the gate to enter the beach area, another tall, strongly built man approached the man who held the hands of his family. The woman and the boy kept going, but the two men spoke briefly and their heads turned ever so slightly in the direction of the woman who was innocently watching the three of them. She noticed the glance and tried to remain inconspicuous as she also entered the beach area.

The unknown woman wondered what was up with the trio. The man who had stopped the other man at the gate had Cop, or Secret Service, written all over him, though he was dressed casually and seemed to be remarkably tanned.

The woman spied her husband sitting on his towel, with his surfboard stuck in the sand and she wandered over to him, wondering where their kids had gone to. He smiled when she approached, and the jealousy of the other couple faded as she smiled back at the good man who was her husband. She laughed to herself, that not every woman could marry Captain America, but she had a pretty close second. She looked back to where she had last seen the other couple, hoping for one last glimpse of them, but...

They were gone.

_**1 Month after That**_

Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Wendell and Clark Edison, who had been hired to fill in for the absent Doctor Brennan, sat on the couches of the Jeffersonian relishing in the recently closed case that they had worked very hard to solve. They were waiting for the partners Agent Sullivan and Agent Perotta to join them, but they had already cracked the bottle of malt liquor and were well into it when the FBI Agents joined them shortly after.

Angela noticed that when the partners sat down on one of the couches, their knees were touching ever so slightly. She smiled at them. Her matchmaking making skills were in full effect again. These two appeared as though they were going to catch on a lot quicker than Booth and Brennan had. Her success rate for hooking up FBI agents and their partners was very good so far, and she wasn't going to let these two ruin her streak. She affectionately patted Hodgins on the knee, and when he looked at her and smiled, she nodded towards the FBI Agents. He noticed the close proximity of the two as well, and whispered something into Angela's ear. The artist smiled broadly.

The bottle of liquor went around the group again and the conversation centered on the case and how everyone had chipped in to solve it. They all laughed at Sully's impression of the mother of the guilty man, who had tried so hard to protect her son from Jail. She had gone to great lengths to send them all on a wild goose chase, but the evidence would not lie for the man. He was guilty, and soon would be tried before a federal judge, and all the squints were confident that they had enough evidence to convince anyone of his guilt.

Agent Perotta and Sully continued to pretend that there was nothing going on between them, but all of the squints were trained to notice small details. Cam thought to herself how bittersweet the relationship might be. Both of them pined for another that they couldn't have. She hoped that Sully and Perotta could get past that and just be happy together, if that's what was meant to be, then it would be.

Wendell and Hodgins cracked jokes about the suspects that they had endured and the experiment that had gone horribly wrong, resulting in the smashed out front door of the lab. Cam didn't laugh at that one; she was still a little pissy about it. Mostly about the paperwork she now had to deal with. Again.

Clark sat fairly quietly. Happy that he had not been embarrassed by inappropriate conversation about relationships in the office. He still tried to wrap his head about the interesting dynamic that all these people shared. They were unique and he felt more comfortable all the time being a part of the team.

In the back of everyone's mind, as always, were Booth and Brennan. The two were missed greatly, but Heather Taffet and her crew had gone as deep underground as the couple, and it wasn't safe for them to return. Not one word had been heard from them since the two partners had made their quick and quiet escape into protective custody.

Angela, especially, was keeping track in her head of when their baby was due, and she wondered constantly how the two were dealing with impending parenthood. She estimated that Brennan was just over seven months now, and before too much longer, the cutest baby in the world, in her mind already, would make its arrival into the world. She hoped they were well. It was hard not knowing what was going on with her best friend, she missed her.

In one of the many small wonders of the universe, as though the world had read her thoughts, the phone of Angela rang from where she had set in on the table in front of them all. She glanced quickly at the caller Id, but it said, 'Blocked Caller'. She shrugged at Hodgins and proceeded to answer it, after passing the bottle on to Wendell, who sat to her right.

"Hello?" She answered, not knowing who to expect. Everyone else continued the conversation about the case.

Everyone's attention went back to her when she squealed her response to the caller.

"Oh my God! Booth! How are you guys?"

The Squints and the FBI Agents only heard her side of the conversation, but the mood changed in the room dramatically as the conversation continued.

"Oh no! That's terrible news...How did it happen?...Oh my God....I'm so sorry you guys...How's Brennan holding up?..." Tears came to Angela's eyes as she spoke and everyone moved to the edge of their seats trying to figure out what had happened. It was definitely not good news judging from Angela's reaction. The artist listened and spoke further to their friend.

"So... you guys are coming back to DC for the funeral?... Do you need someone to pick you up at the airport?...Okay. That makes sense that the FBI would cover you...Okay Booth...We'll see you in a few days... Tell Bren we love her, and we all love you too Booth... You're welcome...Bye!"

Angela clicked her phone shut and stared at it in her lap before looking up to every set of eyes in the room staring at her for news of whatever situation had now arose. She took a deep breath,

"Booth's Grandfather passed away yesterday." She paused while sadness passed through the room,

"They're coming home..."

**

**

To be continued...(as if I could end it there...) ;)


	20. Boom Baby!

A/N-_ okay...time for some drama... the end is near... for someone. Happy reading!!_

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Chapter Twenty:

**

On the third day after Angela's telephone conversation with Booth, she walked into the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab looking around for her friends. She had noticed the familiar car, parked in its usual spot in the underground parking lot of the building as she pulled in, and had rushed inside with eager anticipation.

She went around the corner of the platform and immediately saw the two armed men in suits standing outside of Brennan's office. They were both very stoic looking and very, very tanned. Angela wondered if these were the men who had protected the partners over the last months.

As she approached the office, the two men stared her up and down. Angela had been stared up and down by many men in her life, but she sensed that this was not a glare in that respect. They were seeing if she was a threat. She lifted her hands in defence and was relieved when the door popped open and Booth stuck his tanned face over one of the men's shoulders.

He patted the man on the shoulder and smiled at Angela as he spoke quickly to the man,

"It's okay Jeff. She's one of the good guys!"

Angela grinned at the man who she had not seen for months. He looked good. Rested.

Booth grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the office and pushed the door shut behind them. He pressed his finger to his lips in a quieting gesture and pointed towards the couch. Bones was asleep on the couch, covered in a light blanket. Angela could see her pregnant stomach through the blanket and she gushed at Booth. He just grinned proudly.

He went over to the sleeping woman, and kissed her gently on the forehead. She didn't wake up, and he smiled again at the artist and ushered her over to the other side of the room and pulled two chairs so they were facing each other. Booth went to sit down in one of them, but before he could, Angela wrapped him in a warm embrace. He returned the gesture.

"I'm so sorry about your grandfather Booth. It's so sad. He was a wonderful man in the few times I met him."

Booth sat down on the chair, and leaned towards Angela after she had sat down. Sadness came across his face.

"Thanks Ange. He was the best man. He did everything for my brother and me. I owe him my life."

"What happened? How did he die? It wasn't foul play was it?" Angela asked him quietly.

"No, apparently he had a massive stroke and died in his sleep. The FBI was worried, but it turns out his death was natural. I guess that's a blessing if there is one in this situation. Us Booths and our brains..." He tried to smile, but the sadness stayed with him.

The two sat in quiet reflection for awhile. Booth's glance went back towards the sleeping woman when she stirred just a little bit, but remained asleep. A slight smile came back to his face, and Angela noticed it.

"How are you guys doing? How have you been? Where have you been?" Angela spewed a few questions before she could check herself and the man looked back to her. His smile grew a little bit more.

"That's privileged information there Angela. I don't think you have the clearance to know that." They both smiled now, though the sadness remained in Booth's eyes.

"I know...but you can tell me how you are feeling right? And maybe just a small hint about where you've been getting so tanned?" She looked at him suspiciously. He grinned a cheeky grin.

"I'll give you one hint. If you're clever, and I know you are, you'll figure it out...Did you know that Bones suffers from severe seasickness?"

Angela was clever enough to figure it out. Booth saw the realization on the woman's face.

"I wonder if that's why Bones never sailed away with Sully? She gets ill on the ocean." He laughed a little and Angela touched his upper arm.

"We both know why she didn't sail away with him Booth. You've got nothing to worry about. She didn't even hesitate to sail away with you right?" She wondered about the man's sudden insecurity regarding the man who dated Brennan so long ago. He really had nothing to worry about.

"Our first month was miserable. Add morning sickness to seasickness, and throw in the pain from a gunshot wound...that does not equal happy Brennan." Angela looked at him sympathetically.

"That's awful Booth. How is everything going with the baby? You guys are okay right?"

He looked back again to the couch and the sleeping form.

"She's having a really rough time Ange. There have been more than a few scares that she was losing the baby. And last week she started spotting again. The doctor, who has been travelling with us, has saved that baby a few times. I'm not sure quite how. Kid's a fighter, that's for sure."

Angela placed her hand on his shoulder, again, in a sympathetic gesture.

"You know what though Ange?"

The artist shook her head.

"We are both happier and more stress free than I think we've ever been. It's strange, but the threat from The Gravedigger has probably brought us closer together. The time away has been great for her," He nodded his head towards the couch, and the sleeping form on it, "I think the baby is still here because she had no choice but to relax with a doctor at her side, a Former Army Ranger, and two Navy Seals trained in hand-to-hand combat. That's our personal guard out there. Jeff and Murphy. They are two of the most loyal people I have ever met."

Angela smiled again. She sensed that his feelings for her friend were deeper than they had ever been. It was so good to see everything working out between them so far.

"I bet you guys are so excited for the baby." She watched the warm, paternal glow of the man's tanned face increase.

"We can hardly wait! It won't be long now. And knowing us, the birth will be quite an adventure."

They both laughed out loud. The woman on the couch stirred again, and they both turned their heads to see an arm reach out from the blanket.

"Booth?"

Angela watched as the man went to his partner's side instantly and took her hand. She spoke quietly to him and he smiled a smile at her that would have made a thousand women swoon. Angela was shocked at how hard that man had fallen for the woman beside him. Her own heart skipped a beat at the look passing from him to her.

Booth helped Bones sit up on the couch, but stayed crouched before her with his hands on her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled as he spoke to her belly.

Angela wondered briefly if he forgot she was there, the moment seemed very intimate between them, and she got up from her own chair and approached the two.

Brennan looked over at the movement, and looked startled for a second until she recognized the face.

"Ange! Hi!" Angela noticed that even with a tan, her friend still looked pale. She did look fairly relaxed though.

"Hey Sweetie! How are you?" Angela sat down on the couch beside Brennan and asked a question with her eyes if she could place her hand on the expanded middle of the anthropologist.

Brennan grabbed her hand and pressed it to her stomach, and watched as Angela grinned when she felt the kicks coming from within.

"That's incredible!" Angela stared in open mouthed awe.

"It is isn't it? This had by far, been the most incredible experience of my life." Angela did not miss the loving look she gave her partner.

Angela felt a strange jealousy growing within her. Not really in a bad way, she was truly happy for her friend, but she felt the emotion in the room and never would have thought it would be emanating from Brennan. She had waited so long for her friend to catch up to those emotions, and now, she was happy for the couple. They deserved all the happiness they could get.

"When did you guys get back?"

"Late last night. Four FBI Agents met us at the airport and brought us here under the cover of darkness. They thought the Jeffersonian would be the safest place to be. There is still no word from the Gravedigger, but apparently Cullen thinks us being back in town will bring Taffet and her lackeys out of hiding. We're only going to stay until my Grandfather's funeral, and then we'll head back out to the great unknown. At least until the baby is born, then we'll all go after these guys will all guns blaring." Booth put his one hand back on their baby and she put her hand on top of his. They smiled at each other.

Angela noticed something when she looked down at the two hands. She squealed slightly at the sight of the ring on Brennan's third finger of her left hand. She grabbed the hand to get a closer look.

"This is something you might have mentioned!" Ange glared in mock anger at the two. "Did you two get married?"

"No. Booth asked and I agreed that someday I would marry him. Not right away, but someday, maybe. That's a symbol of my commitment to him. A little sign that I'll always know that he's there for me."

Angela looked at the man to see his reaction to her statement and he just looked thrilled. It was a small victory, but who would have ever thought that the two of them would progress far enough to be having a baby? Everything happens eventually. She looked closer at the ring. It was a simple white gold band with a small diamond surrounded by two sapphires. It was beautiful and elegant. Just like its owner.

"Parker picked it out. He said that the sapphires looked like Bones' eyes." Booth looked proud of his son.

Angela wanted to know about Parker and Rebecca but she knew that they were still in hiding and it wouldn't be fair to ask the question of Booth. He couldn't answer anyway. The three of them sat in companionable silence, they had all missed each other's company, when the door opened and Deputy Director Cullen and Agent Sullivan came through.

Booth immediately stood up to shake the hand of his boss, and Temperance stood up, with Angela's help to greet the men.

Sully stared at her. He hadn't seen her in so long, and this was not how he envisioned their first meeting. She was obviously pregnant with Booth's child, but she still looked as beautiful as he remembered. Perhaps more so.

"Hey Tempe... you look great. Motherhood suits you." He wasn't sure what kind of physical contact would be appropriate, but she reached out to give him a hug.

He held her closely, feeling her protruding abdomen pressing against his. She whispered in his ear,

"Thank you Sully, for letting us use your boat."

He whispered back,

"I would do anything to make sure you are safe."

They parted, and Cullen reached out to take her hand next. Booth stepped back to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. Angela could see just that flicker of jealousy that she had sensed early regarding Booth and Sully. She thought to herself that Sully had way more of a reason to be jealous, but men were men. Who knew what they were thinking.

Cullen greeted Angela with a warm smile. He was always glad to see the woman who had made his daughter's final days on earth so memorable for everyone. He would feel eternally grateful to Angela for all she had done for the dying girl.

Sully and Booth shook hands, and Angela made a polite escape from the room, knowing the conversation would probably get too intense for her regarding the Gravedigger and what they were going to do. She let Brennan know that they would catch up later.

When the door had clicked shut after the departure of the artist, the conversation did get intense. They discussed how they were going to handle security at the funeral, which was being planned to be a full military salute for the elder Booth. They would bury his remains in Arlington National Cemetery, with full honour guard.

Sully pointed out that there would be so many military officials there, that the Gravedigger and her Crew would be insane to try something. Everyone agreed, but they were still going to be cautious.

Brennan sat back down on the couch, she was supposed to be on complete bed rest, and she didn't want to be rude, but Doctor's orders were ringing in her ears. Booth sat down beside her to alleviate some of her discomfort about the situation. The other two men pulled up chairs and they all sat discussing strategy.

The conversation eventually turned to the Grandfather and Temperance had no idea what a war hero the man had been. He had more commendations than most people ever got, and he was personally responsible for saving the lives of at least fifty people when the plane he was flying took out a tank that was about to fire on a group of innocent civilians.

He had flown bombing missions over Normandy in late World War Two, and then flew recovery missions and aided in the rebuilding of towns after the war was over. He had stayed with the Air Force, running training missions, and teaching new pilots how to fly the latest in aviation technology.

The stories went on for some time, and Brennan suddenly became very upset about his passing. She would miss the man so much, and she knew her partner's grief was probably ten times what hers was. Booth noticed the tears running down her face and decided that was enough for now.

He very politely asked the other men if they could have the room, and he would discuss with them further plans in a little while. He walked them to the door of her office and saw them out. They both looked at the man carefully. He seemed okay, if not overly concerned about his partner.

Cullen hoped the Gravedigger would just make a move so they could catch the sons of bitches and those two could go on with their lives without fear.

As soon as the men were gone, Booth went back to the couch, where full tears were now running down her face. He sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest.

"How are you doing?" He asked her.

"I think some hormones are playing major havoc with me right now. I'm sure that's why I'm acting like this."

He just held her and murmured comforting words to her. Eventually she relaxed. His arms had recently become a good place for her to do that and they just sat comfortably for a while. She broke the silence first.

"Booth?" She turned in his arms to look up at him.

"Yes?"

"If the baby is a boy, should we name him after your grandfather? Speaking of which, I don't even know his first name. Nor did I know what a military hero he was. What else are you keeping from me?"

He laughed a bit, and then answered her first question.

"Absolutely no way are we naming our baby after him."

She was shocked, and she removed herself from his arms and sat up to look at him fully.

"Why not? Wouldn't it be an honour?"

"Not in this case Bones..." He paused to lean over and kiss her quickly on the cheek, "You see, my Grandfather's name is also Seeley Booth. He hated that name more than anything. In his Air Force days, the other guys apparently used to make fun of him, and he never wanted anyone to call him by that."

"Why is your name Seeley then?" She really wanted to know.

"Because my Father is an ass. That's why. He named me that to spite his own father. Apparently, my Grandfather was a little bit absent when my father was growing up, and when I was born, he named me after him because he knew that the old man would hate it. So...that's why I hate my name." He gave her a little half smile.

"Wow. I can understand your reasons now. I'll never call you that again... So...It would be more of an honour not to name the baby after him." She smiled.

"I don't mind so much when you call me that. Yes, let's not name the baby after him. He would love that."

Bones noticed the tears form in his eyes, and felt guilty that he was comforting her when it was his grandfather who had died. She was honoured that when the tears finally fell, and she reached her arms out to him, he accepted her embrace without a word. He felt comfortable enough with her to let his true emotions expose themselves.

They spent the day and the night in her office, safe and together, with their two loyal guards keeping everyone else out.

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Three days later the funeral was held without incident.

So many people were shocked to see Booth and Brennan there, but the two were constantly surrounded by armed men. They didn't really get much of a chance to socialize, but everyone there commented on the advanced state of pregnancy that she was in. Not many people had known of their news when they vanished.

Not a peep was heard from the Gravedigger. That made everyone nervous.

The ceremony was beautiful and Booth was proud. His Grandfather was sent off in a grand ceremony, recognizing his heroism and his life's work. Bones stood by his side and held his arm through the whole day, supporting him. He was very grateful to have her there. They would both miss the man so much.

They had agreed to meet the squints back at the Jeffersonian, where they felt safe from foes.

Booth walked back up to the grave when everyone else had dispersed and looked down at the temporary plaque that would remain there until a final headstone was made. Bones walked up behind him, took his arm, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"We should go Booth. Everyone is waiting for us."

He sighed and turned to walk back to their vehicle. Jeff and Murphy were hovering close-by. He looked around the crowd and saw nothing suspicious, but he noticed his father lingering. He was trying to get the attention of his son. Booth just kept walking. He wanted nothing to do with the man who had caused so much misery in his life. Bones looked at him carefully.

"Are you okay?" She squeezed his arm as they walked, and were quickly surrounded by their ever present guards.

"Yeah Bones. I will be anyway. It's just so strange to see your own name on a grave. It's eerie." He wouldn't even acknowledge his Father's attempt at conversation.

She had no reply for his words.

As Booth and Bones walked back into the lab they watched as their armed friends did a quick sweep of the area. Nothing was amiss. The day had proceeded normally for everyone else, and the world went on.

The mail boy, who had worked in the Jeffersonian for years, was stopped as he tried to exit the lab by Jeff and Murphy. Bones waved them off, he was of no harm.

For one of the first times in a long time...she was wrong.

He had already delivered the packages that the strange man had paid him so much money to deliver. He had no idea what they were, but everyone in the Jeffersonian had been delivered one to their offices. He had made his last stop the Medico-Legal lab and his cart was empty when the two armed men stopped him.

Jeff and Murphy were distracted when they saw Brennan pause and clutch at her stomach. Three men looked at her with worried expressions. She waved them off, saying it was just a cramp. She had experienced a number of them that morning, but assumed it was nothing to worry about right now.

The mail boy left the lab with no problem while everyone was distracted by the pregnant woman. She stood up straight and tried to keep the men from worrying about her. They continued further into the lab.

Booth saw Camille over in the room that stored all the bones, and he diverted his partner to go talk to her. They hadn't had much time to speak since their return. They spoke briefly and filled in the Coroner on the information that they could divulge. The woman was happy to see them back, but understood why they had to go again.

Perotta and Sully came around the corner and waved to the three and beckoned them to follow. They all met in the autopsy room, where a body was being wheeled in by the FBI Medical Examiners. It had been found in a swamp that morning and needed identification.

Cam smiled to Brennan.

"Do you want to help with this? For old time's sake?"

Bones looked to Booth, who looked to Jeff, and when he nodded agreement, it was decided.

Cam started the initial examination and Bones put some rubber gloves on. The coroner, who wasn't used to having so many witnesses around nervously pressed on the man's chest. Every trained ear in the room heard the beeping from the body...

Someone yelled "GET DOWN!"

The explosion shook the room, but it was not as serious as some might have thought. It had effectively blown the body into smaller pieces. The alarm instantly went off and the doors to the room slammed shut. Jeff and Murphy were first to the doors, trying to pry them open. Booth had jumped on his partner to shield her from the blast and was making sure she was okay. She seemed alright so far. He helped her up as Perotta and Sully helped Cam up. Everyone was a little sooty and covered with decomp, but seemed okay other than that.

Murphy was kicking the door trying to get it open when suddenly another series of explosions ripped through the lab. The whole place was shaking with the continuous booms that shook from every direction.

The people trapped in the room stared at each other in confusion.

"What the hell was that?" Sully yelled through the commotion.

Sully then joined the effort to open the doors.

The sealed doors actually kept a lot of the smoke from the explosions out of the room. No one said anything for awhile as the men tried to force the door open with very little progress.

A quiet voice broke the silence of conversation.

"Booth?"

He was right there beside her in a flash.

"I think my water just broke. This baby is coming soon!"

Booth looked panicked to everyone else. With good reason.

"Of course it is. That's just great."

He dulled the sarcasm of his words by smiling at the soon-to-be-mother.

**

**

**

TBC... (not much longer...)


	21. The End, and a Beginning!

Chapter Twenty-One:

**

**

...Bones stood clutching her stomach while everyone in the room stared at her. She was serious. This baby's arrival was early and imminent. Booth stood next to her with his hand on her back.

"Are you sure about this?" He was so far beyond panic that he had almost returned to the point of reason.

"Well, I admit, I've never experienced this before, but something is happening...and fast." She cried out with another quick contraction.

Booth looked around the room for help, but no one else there had children but him. No one else knew what to expect. He looked to the men still trying to open the door,

"You guys... we have to get out of here, fast..." He was cut off by Bones' cries.

"Booth something is happening here..."

He looked around the room again, this time looking for anything that could help them deliver this baby. Cam finally gained her wits from the shock of the situation they were in, and covered one of the autopsy tables with a sheet from the cupboard. She covered what was left of the body that lay on the other table. Out of sight, out of mind.

Booth lifted Bones onto the table and she cried out again.

"Are you sure this is happening? Can't you cross your legs for a few more minutes or something?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

She knew he was trying to be funny, trying to defuse the situation, but she was more concerned by the incredible pressure that was occurring in her abdomen.

Booth looked to Cam, wondering what to do next;

"You have medical training right Camille? Can you do this?"

The coroner looked ever-so slightly panicked.

"It's been a long time since I had to deal with a live person on that table. I think I could pull it off. Let's see what we have going on..."

Camille examined Doctor Brennan quickly. She looked back to Booth, her eyes wide.

"She's right Seeley, this baby is coming now."

"It's too early, what do we do? This can't be happening; this isn't what we planned for..." Booth stood beside his partner and closed his eyes for a few seconds trying to compose himself. It only took a few moments.

Cam took control of the situation.

"Perotta... can you stand there and hold her leg?" The blonde woman, who had stayed out of the way so far, quietly went over to the writhing woman on the table, and held her the way Cam pointed out. Booth took the other side, and the two met eyes over the woman they had both solved cases with.

Perotta smiled at him, trying to assure him without words that everything would be just fine. She was secretly jealous of the woman on the table. As happy as she was with Sully, he was a good man, a piece of her heart would always long for Booth.

Booth's eyes went back to his partner and he took her hand firmly.

"It's going to be okay Bones. We're going to get out of this one just fine..." Their eyes met, they both knew the baby was too early. Even born in a hospital room, there was a chance of complications. Their personal Doctor, who had helped them out so much in the last few months, had told them that most babies born at the gestational stage she was in had a good chance of survival; though the complication risk was there.

Brennan cried out again and Cam went back to the business end of things. She made sure that she had the attention of Brennan and said,

"Try not to push yet...just try to wait a few more minutes..."

"I can't..."

Booth held her hand tighter and was temporarily distracted by the men at the door. They had managed to pry the door open just a little bit and now the room was filling with smoke from the fires burning throughout the lab. They worked harder to get it open further. They knew there wasn't much time before the smoke overwhelmed them...

Cam looked back to the door for a second and then back to the woman on the table.

"Okay, Doctor Brennan...push! Let's get out of here..."

The woman bore down in an instinctual response to what was happening with her body. It only took a few minutes, and Booth was proud of her. She barely made a sound as the baby came forth in a burst of fluid and blood. Cam caught the baby and instantly cleared the mouth and they all waited while she worked...

After a brief slap to the baby's feet and despite all the sounds of alarms going off and fires raging, everyone in the room heard the quiet cry of the baby.

Booth was so relieved and he leaned close to Brennan.

"Are you okay?"

Through the smoke and the tears she smiled at him.

"Well, I think that if I had to choose between that and getting shot again, I would happily do that...How is the baby?" She strained to see where her child was.

Booth dropped her hand only to go to where Cam was wrapping their child in a piece of one of the sheets. She had clamped and cut the cord, using the tools from the autopsy kit, and the baby was still crying quietly. The coroner met hovering Booth as she turned around, she handed him the baby as she said,

"It's a little girl! I think she's okay so far, but we should get her to a hospital right away. She's very, very small, but the lungs seem to be well enough developed. She's breathing on her own... but this smoke can't be good for her..."

Booth took the small bundle in his arms and couldn't help but stare in awe at his newborn daughter. She was tiny. He went back to Bones, but they only took a minute to admire their daughter before Sully yelled from the door.

"It's open! Let's go!"

Murphy went back to the table where Brennan still lay as the other two men held the doors open. He picked her up with ease, sheet and all, and ran for the door. Cam went with them, and Perotta waited for Booth and the baby as he took a second to cover the baby with his jacket.

Everyone made a run for the outer door. The whole lab was filled with smoke and flames, but the structural integrity of the building seemed to be holding. Sully and Jeff held the doors only long enough for everyone to make their escape from the room and then followed them towards the door that would lead to the outside and fresh air.

In the smoke and murk the three groups of people became separated. Murphy, Brennan and Cam made it outside and were greeted by emergency response personal who took Brennan from the tall man's arms and had her on the way to the hospital before anyone could protest. Particularly her.

Angela and Hodgins found Cam very soon after the ambulance had taken off and they hugged each other in relief. The couple had not yet made it back to the lab before the explosions went off, and Angela was freaking out about the missing people who she cared about. Just about everyone was accounted for now. Cam filled them in quickly on what had happened in the autopsy room and Angela looked both thrilled and scared at the same time.

"Brennan had the baby? What the hell..."

The artist patted the shoulder of Doctor Saroyan when she looked a little too close to breaking down as realization dawned on her what had just happened. A fireman approached her and handed her a blanket. She accepted it with thanks.

A large group of people were gathering in the gardens of the Jeffersonian. The people who had escaped the building; as well as a number of people who were gathering to watch the drama unfold.

The squints turned their heads back to the doorway to where a fireman was leading Sully and Jeff into the fresh air. The two men gasped and coughed, but stayed close to the door, speaking to the fireman, and pointing back towards the building.

Cam wondered where Booth, Perotta and the baby had gotten too. They couldn't be far behind.

Her question was answered shortly thereafter when the man they all knew so well staggered out of the smoke filled doorway with the small blonde woman right behind him. Booth held a tightly wrapped bundle to his chest, and bent over slightly to cough some of the smoke out of his lungs.

In the chaos that was occurring, nobody saw a lone woman remove herself from the crowd and approach the front doors until it was too late...

Cam, Angela and Hodgins watched the events unfold from where they were. There was nothing they could do as the woman drew a pistol and pointed it towards Booth.

Booth saw the arm extend from the woman and saw the metal piece in her hand. He looked into her eyes and recognized the evilness that was Heather Taffet. the very face that they had been avoiding for months now. He stood up to reach for his gun, but he knew there was no time. Her gun was already pointed at him and he watched her thumb cock the weapon. All he had time to do was turn his back towards the woman, and hope that he could shield his daughter's tiny body away from the bullets. He would happily give his life to save hers.

He closed his eyes and held the baby tighter to his chest and prepared to feel the final painful moments of his life.

He heard the gun fire six times successively, and then the clicking of empty chambers being spun. He felt no pain and opened his eyes. There was shouting coming from all directions and he turned slowly.

He looked directly into the eyes of Agent Perotta. Her eyes were wide open and she looked at him for only a second before he noticed the blood stains start to form on her clothes. She dropped to her knees, and her eyes lost their focus. She fell to the ground, dead.

Booth realized at that moment that she had stepped into the line of fire. He knew that she couldn't have had time to reach for her gun, and had stepped in-between him and Taffet. She had taken all the bullets to save him and his daughter. He was in shock, and before he could do anything to react, Sully ran past him from behind, and unloaded a few shots towards the woman who stood there.

She was pissed. Booth had been her only intended target and she had missed her chance to end his life.

She and her Crew had set those explosions to draw the man and his partner out of the building. Their plan had worked perfectly until now. Until that small woman had decided to be the hero. Heather Taffet recognized her as being one of the FBI Agents involved in her capture, and thought that at least one person had paid for that mistake. Now, her last sight on Earth was the cold look in Booth's eyes, and the cold smile on his face as she felt the bullets pierce her chest and she started to fall. She was dead before she hit the ground; Sully's second shot had exploded her heart.

Sully, after taking out Taffet, went to Perotta's side and held her in his arms. He gently closed her eyes, knowing she was gone. He looked up at Booth, and Booth recognized the look on Sully's face. He remembered suddenly that this was not the first partner that Sully had lost.

Jeff was instantly at Booth's side and attempted to guide him out of the open area where danger might still lurk. Booth looked back at Sully; his heart broke for the man.

"She saved my life Sully. She saved our lives. We will never forget that..."

And with that, Jeff guided Booth and the baby into a waiting ambulance which followed the baby's mother to the hospital.

On the way, Booth handed the precious bundle over to the paramedics and they examined her. He refused to be treated for smoke inhalation, despite the medic's request.

He noticed again how tiny she was. She was only about half the size of Parker when he was born. She was still breathing on her own though. Booth already knew she was a fighter, and her quick, though traumatic, birth would soon be a passing memory. As long as everything turned out alright.

He wondered how Bones was doing. Probably panicking about where her child was. Worrying about both of them. He asked the driver to step on it.

His partner was just inside the emergency room doors waiting for him and their daughter. She was still on the gurney, but she looked ready to jump up. She tried to when she saw her partner walk in carrying the small bundle. Murphy held her back and Booth quickened his pace to meet her.

He handed the baby over to her, and his heart melted at the sight of the initial mother-daughter bonding. The Doctors had been waiting for them to arrive and they wheeled the family up to the maternity ward to do a more thorough examination of mother and child.

The two loyal guards set up a new perimeter outside the door of the room where their charges had been led. Heather Taffet was gone, but there was still no sign of the rest of those who wanted the couple dead.

Brennan was settled in no time. She seemed to be suffering from no adverse effects from the quick birth, but she admitted that she was still likely riding the adrenaline rush from the drama of the last hours' events. Her daughter was just a little worse off. They had taken her down the hall to the Pediatric ICU just to do some tests and get her cleaned up. The Doctors told them that she looked like she was going to be just fine, but they wanted her in an incubator with some extra oxygen, just to observe her for a while and to make sure nothing would happen. They could go see her shortly.

The Doctor left Booth and Brennan in the room alone while he went down the hall to take care of their daughter. Booth didn't even hesitate to crawl into the bed beside her. He just held her closely. He knew that he was able to do this only because of the sacrifice of Perotta. It should have been him lying there on the ground outside of the Jeffersonian. He realized that there was no way they could ever re-pay her for her sacrifice. They owed her everything. Booth held Bones tighter.

She leaned into him as he explained to her what had happened at the Jeffersonian after they became separated. Brennan was shocked by the actions of Agent Perotta. The woman had given her life to save the baby and Booth.

They lay together in silence for awhile. Eventually she spoke.

"Booth? What was Agent Perotta's first name?"

Booth smiled a little bit. He had been thinking exactly the same thing. He wasn't really surprised that Bones didn't know her first name; it wasn't something she would have felt was relevant to know. He kissed her on the temple,

"Her name was Payton."

Brennan was silent for a minute.

"That's a good name don't you think?"

He kissed her again.

"I think that's a perfect name."

"And it's also the name of an all-star quarterback for the NFL right? You should like that."

Booth laughed, now he was surprised at her.

"How do you even know that?"

"Because I have just spent four and a half months on a boat with three sports-loving men. I may have picked up a magazine and perused it on occasion. I know things Booth." She gave him a smile that she knew made him happy.

They kissed passionately; right there on the hospital bed.

They held each other close, while waiting for the Doctor to come back and let them see their daughter.

It wasn't long, and the new parents went to see the wonder they had created.

Both of them stared in awe at the little girl as they entered the room. She was perfect and perfectly healthy, just a little small. Her birth weight was recorded at just less than four pounds, but her heartbeat was strong and her breathing was normal.

Booth was the first to approach the incubator and reach his hand inside. The nurses standing nearby all had tears in their eyes at the sight of the look on the man's face. He stroked his daughter's tiny head and he was not even going to try to stop the tears that flowed from his eyes. He felt Bones approach his side and wrap her arms around his waist.

"She's beautiful... don't you think?"

Booth looked at Bones when he replied, he was never more grateful to be there to see the look on her face just then, as she stared at the little girl.

"Yeah. She sure is."

They were both distracted by the sound of a man's voice asking if they could come out to the hallway for just a second.

They met Cullen in the hallway. He looked nervous.

"The Gravedigger's crew just made contact with the FBI; they're pissed about Heather and have just declared war on the two of you. We need to get you out of here now..."

The partners both sighed. Would they ever be safe again?

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Later that evening, Max walked down the hallway towards the room where his daughter and her new family were thought to be. He carried a huge pink teddy bear to give to his brand-new granddaughter. Wow, he thought to himself, I'm a grandfather. He knew the major responsibilities of that role, and he was ready for the challenge. He would be there for that little girl no matter what. He would make amends for abandoning his own daughter for all those years.

He couldn't wait to meet her.

As he approached the room where he knew they were, he grew nervous that there was no guard outside the door. He had been warned that there would be. He gently opened the door the room, completely unsure of what to expect.

The only person in the room was a member of the cleaning staff, who was making the bed, readying the room for the next patient. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Do you know where the woman who was in this room went, she's my daughter, and she just had a baby?"

The woman just shook her head.

"I don't know. They're gone I guess."

Max backed up out of the room. He didn't know what was happening. They were gone? Again? What did that mean?

A nurse approached him as he walked back down the hallway.

"Are you Max Keenan?"

He nodded.

"Doctor Brennan was expecting you, but they had to go. She asked me to give you this..." The woman fished a Polaroid picture out of her pocket and handed it to the man.

He smiled as he looked at the picture. It was of the new parents and their new daughter, his daughter and Booth looked so happy. As happy as he and his wife had looked when they held their own baby daughter. He flipped the picture over and written on the back was;

_Max, (Grandpa)_

_We had to go. You, if anybody, will understand why. Please, don't try to find us..._

_Hopefully we won't be gone fifteen years before we can resolve this issue._

_Love, Temperance, Booth and Payton. _

_(We named her for Agent Payton Perotta, who gave her life for ours, Please make sure her family is well-taken care of)_

Even though Max had tears in his eyes as he continued down the hall, he laughed at the irony of how much his daughter had ended up like him. His leaving all those years ago had been intended to prevent her from following in his footsteps. To protect her from danger. She had done everything right, and she was still in the same situation. Genetics were undeniable. Fate was indisputable.

He wished them luck under his breath, and tucked the picture into his wallet with a symbolic kiss to the faces on the front of it.

"See you soon baby. Take care."

*

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The

End.

*

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*

*

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

_**A/N:**_

**_Well, that's that I guess..._**

_**Thanks for reading this. There will be a short epilogue posted very soon ...in case anyone is interested, there's totally a set up for a futurefic sequel. **_

_**Thanks again. It's been swell.**_

_**Gaia.**_


	22. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Angela sat at her station at the Jeffersonian one morning, going through her mail that had stacked up while she had been gone away for a week. Just a quick trip out of town with the man she loved.

She came across a post card that had only her name and address written on it, and one simple sentence, written in the long unseen, familiar scrawl of her best friend.

"It's a Boy!"

She knew instantly who it was from.

It had been over a year since Booth and Brennan had disappeared with their daughter, Payton. Apparently, they had not wasted a lot of time in having another. The Gravedigger's crew was still out there and the three of them would not be safe until those people were caught.

Or the four of them... Angela amended the thought in her head with a smile.

Angela laughed out loud as she looked at the post mark. The card had been sent from Brazil, but who knew if they were actually there, or if a contact had mailed it for them.

She smiled again and was quietly jealous of her best friend and her million dollar family. She hoped they were safe.

They were.

For now.

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_**HI again.**_

_**So... there's a little epilogue...and a set up for a sequel. It might be a little while, but it's in the works. **_

_**Happy summer! **_

_**XxOO**_

_**Gaia**_


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